


Chika-go

by tuuli



Series: Chika-go [1]
Category: Hikaru no Go, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-07-02 10:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15794928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuuli/pseuds/tuuli
Summary: It all starts one rainy evening when a boy and a ghost get lost in Chicago. A chance meeting with a stranger they think they would never see again... but quite soon they find themselves in the need of help from Chicago's only professional wizard, and for something much more serious than just finding their way back to the hotel.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally getting on with my Hikago/DF crossover which was originally supposed to be a pointless oneshot for my Unofficial Blind Go round #2. It kind of got out of hand - there'll be at least 10 chapters, probably some more. Took me a while to figure out what the heck is going on here. ^^;
> 
> It's about late March/early April in this fic. In Dresden-verse, this is taking place right before White Night. Some spoilers up to the flashback scene in that book. In Hikago, it's the April before... well, before _that_ May 5th. After Hikaru has turned pro, in other words, though before his pro games have started. (I've a feeling I'm trying to be a bit too exact here. xD Well,whatever.)
> 
> I'll try to update weekly, most likely usually during the weekend.

Sai paused to observe the alley they had turned to. The street was quiet. There were a few cars parked by it, and the parking lot ahead was almost full, but the only other person on the street was a lone man hurrying away a bit ahead of them.

Distant rumble of thunder carried to Sai’s ears, partly explaining the man’s hurry. He glanced up at the darkening sky just as the first raindrops hit the ground. A few fell at his face, and through it, and looking down he saw dark spots beginning to form on pavement under him. He turned to look at Hikaru. The boy was frowning at the map he was holding, oblivious to the rain, but as Sai watched, a big raindrop hit the paper map, and the boy swore.

 _Language, Hikaru,_ he said automatically, and the boy turned to glower at him instead of the map. He sighed. _I don’t think this is a shortcut. In fact…_ he started saying but fell silent at the look he got. I’m quite sure we are not where you think we are, he’d been about to continue.

“Well, yeah.” Hikaru muttered after a short pause. He glanced up at the sky, and winced when a raindrop nearly hit him in the eye. “Damn,” he said again. “It looks like—” At that moment the heavens opened, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. Hikaru gave a shriek, and bending over his map to protect it from water he gave a frantic look around. Something caught his eye, and he rushed quickly down a few stairs that lead to a door with English text on it.

 _Hikaru? Where are you going?_ Sai asked hurrying after him as the boy flung the door open.

“Out of the rain! I dunno, I think it’s…” the boy paused, taking in the view in front of him. Sai peeked in over his shoulder.

 _A pub?_ Sai whispered to him. _I don’t think you should be going to pubs.  
_

“Yeah?” Hikaru muttered and glanced over his shoulder. The downpour went on behind them and thunder cracked again, this time closer. “Easy for you to say, _you_ don’t get wet.”

 _Maybe we can wait here for the rain to stop,_ Sai said, and the boy nodded. He closed the door behind them and shot a glance across the room, shaking a few water drops from his blond bangs.

“Funny place,” he muttered under his breath.

Sai nodded, fully agreeing, but he suspected his reasons were different. There was something odd in the air of the place, though he found it difficult to put a finger on what it was. As it didn’t feel dangerous, he said nothing about it.

The room they had entered was quite low, low enough that the ceiling fans might pose a danger to a very tall person. The place was dim, with windows high on the wall, on ground level. On this rainy evening the light in the room was created mainly by the many candles on tables and walls. Hikaru started walking through the room, and following him Sai instinctively dodged one fan that would have reached his hat, were his hat real – and was then very happy Hikaru hadn’t seen his flinch and once again got a reason to laugh at him. You’d think in a thousand years he’d have gotten used to not having to care about things like that, but apparently not.

As they walked through the pub, Sai paused to watch the strange wooden pillars that were placed in the room seemingly randomly. There were carvings on them which reminded him of folktales and legends, though in general of somewhat creepy ones. He glanced at the boy and saw that he had paused to watch the sign hung above the bar desk, with the text _Accorded neutral territory_ on it.

Hikaru’s mouth moved a little as he tried to spell it out. Then he gave up. “Acc… what does that mean?”

_I don’t know,_ Sai replied very, very quietly. He turned back to the pillar closest to him. In the flickering light of the place the carvings seemed strangely hazy and indistinct, almost as if they were subtly changing. He shuddered a little, and the strange feeling he had intensified again. Maybe the rain wouldn’t be that bad. _Hikaru… I’m not sure if this is the kind of place where you should be going on your own…_ he said quietly.

The boy glanced at him, eyes hesitant. “I’m not going into that rain,” he whispered aloud. “And hey, maybe someone here can tell us where we are.” He glanced toward the bar desk, behind which a tall, bald man was watching him with a frowning expression. “Here goes nothing,” muttered, and walked to the bar desk.

The man said something in English as Hikaru reached him. The boy grimaced. “Uh. _I… I’m_ …” he tried to get started, but couldn’t remember how to say ‘lost’ in English. Or ‘rain’? What was that again? “Uh,” he repeated, his mind drawing a blank. “You wouldn’t happen to speak Japanese?” he said finally, a little exasperated.

Sai snorted, and then almost fell off his feet out of sheer surprise when the man replied shortly “Yes.” Hikaru as well was so stunned he just stared at the man, apparently not having expected that answer either.

“This is a pub,” the man went on after a short silence. “Not for minors.” His sentences were short, but something in his manner and flawless pronunciation suggested to Sai that it was mainly because this was his way, not because he wouldn’t have been good enough in Japanese.

“Yeah, well, I…” Hikaru ran fingers through his hair, still looking a bit surprised. “I know, but… it’s raining real hard and I’m kinda lost…”

“Where you stay?” the man grunted, and Hikaru speedily spread out his map.

“Close to the harbor, umm, around here, I think…”

_Not there_ , Sai whispered into his ear. _Your mother marked it, remember? It’s that red circle a bit left._

“Oh.” Hikaru blushed. “Here.”

The man nodded. He shot a sharp glance over Hikaru’s shoulder, looked then at the boy. “Pretty far. With family?”

“Yeah. I kind of, I mean, we got separated, and I tried to follow them to that museum mom wanted to go to but I think I took the subway to wrong direction or something and then I thought it’s better go back to the hotel but, well…” his voice trailed off. “ _And_ ,” he went on, “the battery of my phone died. Can I charge it here?”

“Sorry, no. There’s landline. You have the hotel’s number?”

Hikaru shook his head sadly. _Sai, do you happen to remember mom’s number…?_

The ghost sighed. _Sorry._

There was a moment’s awkward silence. Then the man gestured with his head toward an empty table by the wall. “Wait here until the rain’s over. Take a taxi to your hotel then. It’s getting late.” He paused for a moment. “You hungry?”

“Yea… or, uh.” Hikaru bit his lip, and Sai knew the trouble: he _was_ hungry, as always, but also broke. As always.

The man just nodded and turned away, saying nothing.

Hikaru and Sai headed to the table he had pointed them. “Taxi,” Hikaru muttered as he sat down. “That costs a lot.”

 _Maybe your parents are at the hotel?_ Sai said. _They can pay. Or perhaps the hotel could pay for you and add it to the bill._

“I don’t know.” Hikaru slumped down, leaning on the table. “Mom’s going to kill me. They’ll never take me anywhere ever again…”

Sai deemed it best to say nothing. This was their second day in Chicago – that long it had taken Hikaru to get into trouble. Of course, he chided himself, he hadn’t been paying much attention to the boy’s parents either, and hadn’t even noticed when they disappeared somewhere.

Hikaru spread his map on the table and sat there a long while quietly, staring at it. He gave a start when the man from the bar desk suddenly placed a plate with a toast and a mug with something that looked like beer in front of him.

“Nonalcoholic,” the man grunted, and paused. “Don’t tell people,” he added then. “That I make stuff like that.”

“Um, no, I…” Hikaru stared at the toast with slightly wide eyes, and his stomach made a rumbling sound. “Ah, I’ve… got no money…” he called out when the man was already walking away.

He just waved with his hand, dismissingly.

Hikaru stared a moment after him and grabbed then the toast. “This is good!” he exclaimed, mouth full, and took a gulp from his mug. “And so’s this.” He swallowed. “Amazing.”

Sai shook his head, a little amused, as the boy attacked the toast with fervor. Right then he noticed someone rushing in much in the same way they had earlier, but much more wet. A tall man, tall enough to have to be wary of some of the fans, dressed in a long leather coat, spent a moment by the door shaking water from his dark hair before making a beeline to the bar desk. Sai watched him order something, saw the bartender give him an ale… and then say something that made the man turn to look toward their table.

Sai watched them, nervousness growing again, when a sudden flash of light almost blinded him. He made a startled noise and was about to say something to Hikaru who didn’t seem to have noticed anything, when a rather beautiful – and rather scantily clad – young woman suddenly sat down by their table.

“Hello,” she practically drawled, and Hikaru paused from his eating, looking up with widening eyes, mouth full of toast.

“Umgh,” he said, and the woman laughed and said something that neither Hikaru nor Sai understood, but the tone made Sai frown.

_I don’t think your mother would approve of you conversing with ladies like this_ , Sai said quite disapprovingly.

_Conversing? She’s the one talking to me!_ Hikaru thought back.

The woman said something that sounded like a question, and tilted her head. Hikaru blinked. _Sai, what should I do?_

Before Sai could say anything, the newly arrived man as well came to their table, an ale mug in his hand. He said something to the woman whose expression darkened. She replied, tersely, and the man shrugged it off with a little laugh. What he said next made the woman’s expression turn nearly stormy, but she glanced toward the bar desk, and seeing the bartender watching them rose up with slow, lazy movements.

She said yet something to the man, who without turning away from his ale simply snapped, “Get lost.”

Hikaru’s face brightened. “Lost!” he exclaimed, and everyone paused, staring at him. “I… am… lost,” he said slowly in English, with careful pronunciation, blushing a little.

The man gave him a bit crooked smile and said something. Hikaru sighed.

_Sai_. _Did you understand anything?_

 _Not sure,_ Sai confessed. _I think he might have said ‘So I’ve heard’, but I might be wrong._

 _Yeah_. Hikaru sighed again. _I…_ he started to say, but paused as he noticed the intense stare he was getting from the man. “Uh,” he said aloud. “I… I’m sorry, I don’t really speak English,” he said in Japanese, a bit grumpily.

The man nodded. “Let’s talk in Japanese, then,” he said, and Hikaru coughed as his drink went the wrong way.

“Does _everyone_ speak Japanese here?!” he exclaimed once he could talk again.

“Hardly,” the man said, and left it at that. “So you’re lost?”

“Yeah,” Hikaru said. “Our hotel’s here.” He pointed at the map.

 _Ask him where we are, Hikaru,_ Sai whispered to him.

“Wh–” Hikaru started to say, but the man was already pointing at the map, too.

“We’re here.”

“Oh.” Hikaru stared at the map, looking as uncomfortable as Sai was feeling. “I… thought… well. Never mind.”

_I wonder if it’s still raining_ , Sai said nervously. _Maybe you should finish eating and we could ask the bartender to call that taxi._

_Yeah_ , Hikaru agreed and grasped the rest of his toast. _The food’s amazing but these people are creeping me out._

“The name’s Harry Dresden,” the man said suddenly. He gave a card to Hikaru who wiped his fingers into his jeans before taking it. The boy frowned, trying to spell out the word on the card, under the name.

“Uh, what does that mean…?” he finally asked.

“Wizard,” the man said lightly, and gave Hikaru a wink as the boy blinked at him. “And don’t now give me any bullshit about not believing in magic, what with being so chatty with a ghost.”

Sai froze. So did Hikaru.

“Ghost…?” Hikaru finally asked, giving a laugh that was probably meant to be disbelieving but came out quite nervous instead. “What are you talking about?”

“The guy sitting next to you, with weird-ass clothes and a ridiculous hat. Or, at least I _think_ that’s a guy.” He paused for a moment and seemed to be eyeing Sai’s tall _eboshi_ hat. “And not gonna say what that thing mostly reminds me of… Anyway, Mac noticed something off with you and asked me to take a look. And he was right, wasn’t he? How long have you been haunted?”

Hikaru bit his lip and watched the self-declared wizard in silence. “What about it?” he said finally, a bit aggressively. “It’s none of your business.”

“This is my town,” the man said, giving Hikaru a level look, “and under my protection. Anything supernatural going on here is literally my business.”

“Why? Sai’s not a danger to anyone! All he wants is to play go!”

“Go?” The man stared at him.

“Yeah, it’s this board game where you…”

“I know what go is. Just… surprised me a bit. Though that’s totally ghost-like behavior, to be completely focused on one thing, however random it is. And, if he is attached to you, maybe he’s bending you to it too. Maybe others aren’t in danger because of him, but you…”

“Sai’s no danger to me!” Hikaru exclaimed so loudly the men at the next table turned to look at him. “He’s my _friend_! And he’s a really great person, you…”

The man was shaking his head. “Ghosts aren’t real persons,” he said, and Sai let out a very indignant _What!?_ which went completely ignored. “They’re shaped like the original, but they aren’t it – they are a memory, an imprint, sometimes barely more than a pattern, created when someone with a strong mind dies, usually unjustly or prematurely. He might not _mean_ you harm, but in the long run, there’s bound to be trouble. Even a ghost needs a source of energy, it won’t last forever.”

“So?” Hikaru asked belligerently. “I have energy enough to share!”

“Now, maybe you have. It might not always be so, if you get sick, or old…”

“I...!” Hikaru started, but Sai cut him off. _Do you really think I might harm him?_ he asked quietly.

“What?” Hikaru blinked at him. “Of course you don’t!”

_But, Hikaru…_ Sai swallowed. _I did tell you about Torajiro…_

The boy snorted. “What of him? It’s not like you killed him or anything, you said he got sick cause he…” Then it sunk in and Hikaru blinked again. “Oh. But. But it was cholera! That’s real bad, right? He would have probably died anyway!”

Sai said nothing, just sat in silence, eyes downcast. If he had truly brought about Torajiro’s death… or in the slightest way played a part in it… what right did he have to be there, still playing his games? How could he go on, like this, if he had brought an end to that bright life?

The man, Dresden, the _onmyouji_ (for Sai had no doubts that he was exactly what he claimed to be) was watching him thoughtfully, as Sai raised his eyes to him. _I would rather die a true death than bring any harm to Hikaru_ , he said gravely. The man let out a long breath.

“Well. You definitely are an exceptional ghost. For one thing, aware of your death, and still here. Usually, ghosts dissolve the moment they truly realize they are dead. I’ve not come across something quite like this before…”

“So maybe you shouldn’t be judging him when you know nothing,” Hikaru said angrily.

 _Hikaru_ , Sai said reproachfully. _Mind your manners_.

“Yeah but…” The boy turned his glower to the ghost who faced it calmly.

_You should speak respectfully to an onmyouji_ , Sai stated gravely. _Even if_ , he shot a disapproving glance at the man _, he has not been that’s respectful to begin with._

“…for they are subtle and quick to anger,” the man muttered, and both Hikaru and Sai blinked at him. “Oh, never mind. Not that respectful huh? Just telling you the truth, if you don’t like it, that’s tough.” He was about to take a gulp of his ale, but frowned then, winced a little, and shaking his head muttered, “Got to stop this for a while.”

 _Stop what?_ Sai asked, but got no reply and let out an annoyed breath. _Just rude_.

Meanwhile a couple of big gulps had emptied the ale mug. “Well.” The man placed the mug on the table and wiped his mouth. “Come, I’ll give you a ride to your hotel.”

Hikaru blinked as the man stood up. “Wha… really? I, umm…” Sai could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he was weighing the risks of getting a lift from a stranger against the benefit of not having to pay for taxi. “Uh.”

 _I am not sure if we should follow him_ , Sai said. _We know nothing about him, really._

“Mmm…”

A free ride was winning, Sai could see that clearly on Hikaru’s face. He gave a sigh.

_If we do… I want your word, as an onmyouji, that you_ will _take us straight to the hotel, safe and sound_ , he said firmly. Again there was no reply, not even a reaction, as the man was watching Hikaru expectantly.

 _Hello?_ Sai said, waving his fan. _I’m talking to you!_ No reaction. He glanced at Hikaru. _Doesn’t he see me anymore?_

The boy blinked. “Huh? Maybe?”

“So, let’s start moving,” Dresden said, apparently taking the ‘maybe’ as a reply to his offer.

 _Helloooo…_ Sai was calling. _Boo!_ He waved his hand in front of the man’s face.

“Um, don’t you see him anymore…?” Hikaru apparently just had to ask.

“Oh, the ghost?” The man shook his head. “No…I closed the Sight. It was making me dizzy. The Third Sight, you know?” he added when Hikaru gave him a blank look. “Ever heard of the Third Eye?” Hikaru’s expression brightened, but the man suddenly scowled. “And he’d better stop that right away, or I just might change my mind about an exorcism.”

Sai, who had been pulling faces in front of him, suddenly froze and shot a panicked look at Hikaru.

“I… thought you didn’t see him?” the boy repeated the ghost’s question.

The man snorted. “No need to _see_ everything to know what’s going on. If you want a ride, get going. If you rather try to get a cab, fine for me. Not that easy to get one in this weather, though.”

Hikaru hesitated a moment but nodded then, and they left the pub together.

Sai raised his eyebrows when he saw the car the _onmyouji_ led them to. He was no expert on cars, but even he could see that it wasn’t only an old one, but had definitely seen better days. It was small, and not sleek and long like modern cars tended to be, but with round shapes and only two doors… and a badly battered fender. It was mainly blue, except that the motor hood was grey, one door was white and the other red, and one of the fenders, the undamaged one, bright yellow.

Sai could practically _feel_ what Hikaru was thinking, but wondrously enough, the boy remained quiet. Their driver seemed to sense Hikaru’s attitude as well as they settled into the car. Of course, the look on the boy’s face might have given him a hint.

“Hey,” he said lightly, “this is the mighty Blue Beetle. Don’t look down on it, it’s carried me through many a scrape, and horrors unknown to most men.”

Hikaru gave him a blank look and watched a moment in silence as he tried to coax the engine alive. “Wizarding doesn’t pay much?” the boy finally said.

Dresden grimaced and gave one more turn to the key. The engine coughed, but finally began buzzing. “Wizarding doesn’t go well with technology,” he muttered. “I’m lucky to drive a few miles in a modern car without trouble.”

“Oh.” Hikaru watched the grey hood and bent then forward a bit to get a better look of the fender. Sai too gave it a look and noticed that in addition to the fender having hit something, quite hard, there were also long scrapes all over the hood – which wasn’t really grey, he saw now, but just without paint. But those scrapes… were almost like claw marks. “What made those?” Hikaru asked, curiosity in his voice.

“Rats.”

Hikaru blinked.

“They were big.”

Sai and Hikaru shared a look.

“Horrors unknown to most, didn’t I tell you?” Dresden saw the look on Hikaru’s face and went on, “Come on, rats big as ponies are plenty horrifying. Even if they weren’t… ah, never mind. But looking at the bright side: at least I’d not yet had the hood painted. Might as well just leave it unpainted, I guess… the rate I’m going it won’t last long, anyway. But enough of Beetle… why don’t you tell me how you two met?”

Sai and Hikaru shared another look. Then Sai nodded at the boy, who started telling of how he had come across a ghost in an old go board in his grandfather’s attic, how they had become friends, and how Hikaru had now, finally, reached his goal and just become a professional go player. In fact, his father had taken him and his mother along on a business trip to celebrate him turning pro.

“Pro?” Dresden cut him off there. “But you’re just a little kid!”

Hikaru glared at him. “I’m almost fifteen! Besides, there’s no lower age limit. Most of the best players turn pro when they’re teenagers, and the youngest ever was eleven.”

Dresden muttered something under his breath, shaking his head. The rest of the way to the hotel they drove in silence. Sai spent the time observing the man. Tall – too tall for this tiny car – lanky, shabby hair and short stubble giving him an unkempt look. There was more to him than met the eye, though. His aura was strong, stronger than any Sai had ever come across. A pentagram pendant hung around his neck, and Sai thought he could feel warm power in it too – well, that was only natural. The Seal of Seimei was a powerful magical symbol, even he knew that much. For a moment Sai’s eyes stopped on his left hand, covered in a glove, which was slightly peculiar as he wore no glove on his other hand, but right then they arrived to the hotel. Dresden pulled to a stop in front of it and gave the boy a long look. Then he nodded, slowly, thoughtfully.

“Maybe you’re okay,” he said then. “How long will you stay in Chicago?”

“Oh, just a couple of days,” Hikaru said as he opened the car door. It was again raining quite heavily, and he made ready to jump out and rush to the hotel doors. “Thanks for the ride,” he said over his shoulder.

The man just nodded, still giving him that thoughtful look, and Hikaru gave a quick nod too and ran into the rain.

They paused at the doors to watch the multicolor car drive away.

 _Why did you lie to him?_ Sai asked. _Aren’t we staying here still over a week?_

_Yeah, well, I don’t know. He just made me nervous._

They walked into the lobby. Hikaru kept on eyeing the hotel staff anxiously, but they didn’t pay any special attention to him, just greeted him normally as he walked by.

“Well,” he muttered. “Maybe they haven’t yet called cops after me.”

The elevator took them to the fifth floor. Sai could nearly taste Hikaru’s nervousness as he opened the door to their hotel room – and his surprise, when they entered the room and found it empty. The cleaning service had been there and the beds had been made, but otherwise it didn’t seem anyone had entered the room during the day; all the clothes and papers were lying exactly where they had left them.

“Well.” Hikaru left out an exasperated sigh. “Maybe they’re out looking for me.” He quickly dug out the charger and turned his phone on. A couple of attempts later he frowned at the phone. Then he threw it angrily from his hand on the night table and flung himself on his bed.

_What is it?_

“Figures!” the boy exclaimed. “ _Their_ phones are out of battery too! It’s going straight to the answering machine.”

 _That’s weird. I remember your father was charging his phone last night. And…_ Sai gave the phone a frowning look. _Haven’t they tried to call you? Sent a, what do you call it, a text message?_

“Apparently not.” Hikaru heaved out a great sigh. Then he reached for the remote controller and turned on the TV. “Whatever. I bet they’ll be back soon.”

_But, Hikaru…_

“What?” the boy snapped. “Here I am, getting lost and worrying how angry they’ll be, and then _they_ are out of reach! Whatever, who cares.”

Sai watched him worriedly but said nothing.

⋆⋆⋆

_Hikaru. Hikaru, wake up!_

“Mmmh…” The boy gave a sleepy sound and rolled over. In the TV a pretty blond woman was advertising some kind of hair product. Sai ignored her annoyingly high pitched voice that was babbling things he didn’t understand and shook the boy again. _Wake up!_

“What?” Hikaru blinked drowsily. _Sai, what time is it? Why are you waking me this early…_

 _It’s 7 am, and your parents_ still _aren’t back. Something’s wrong!_

“What?” Hikaru repeated and sat up. He fumbled his phone to his hands and gave it a bleary look. 07:01. “Really? That’s… weird.”

 _To say the least!_ Sai exclaimed, flailing with his arms. _Hikaru, what if something has happened to_ them _?_

This woke up the boy completely. He sat up and went on fumbling with his phone, now more frantically. After a while he shook his head. “Same as yesterday. Their phones are turned off or something…”

Sai met his troubled look. _Should we go to talk with the hotel staff?_

“Yeah.” Hikaru swallowed. “Let’s do that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates once a week, I said, but I think I'll squeeze two into this week. (Mainly as I'm already liking third chapter and I want to get to it sooner~~~)

**Chapter 2**

Hikaru sat quietly on his chair, staring at his clasped hands, while the police officers were talking with the hotel staff in the next room. It was the morning of the next day, and there had been no sign of his parents. Sai hovered behind the police, trying to listen in, but although he possibly was better in English than Hikaru, he didn’t understand much. What little he did understand did nothing to reassure him.

 _I’m not sure, but I have a feeling they still have no idea what has happened_ , he said when he returned to the boy. _No… clues? Is that the right word?_

 _They can’t have just vanished into thin air_ , the boy thought back, very quietly, but with a sharp tinge of anger that made Sai twitch.

_No, but…_

“Shindou-kun?” A voice cut Sai off, and he turned to look toward the door as Hikaru too finally looked up. A young police woman entered the room, a friendly (though in Sai’s mind somewhat forced) smile on her lips. Tomoko Hart had been their main contact with the police during the incident, generally very kind though at times abrupt enough to border on rude, though Sai assumed that was mainly due of not being quite fluent.

Another woman followed her in, this one older, maybe in her forties, dressed in a smart skirt suit, dark brown hair tied on a tight bun. Jennifer Mitchell was there as the representative of the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago. She had appeared at the hotel already before the police and been quite determined to take Hikaru under her wing. With a Japanese husband and having lived over ten years in Japan she was even more fluent than Tomoko, but Sai liked her less. He couldn’t really say why, but there was something off-putting in the woman, even though she appeared to have nothing but Hikaru’s best interests in her mind.

“I’m sorry, Shindou-kun,” Tomoko said as they sat down with Hikaru, “but could I ask you some questions about when your… you got separated from your parents?”

The boy sighed. “I’ve told you all I can,” he said. “I don’t know where they went, they just disappeared somewhere when I wasn’t looking.”

“Please, Shindou-kun,” Mitchell said quietly. “I understand this is trying for you, but it is important. Just in case there is something, the tiniest little thing that you might now remember…”

Tomoko was nodding and gave him an earnest look. “Would you tell me again where and when that happened?”

“I’d stopped to look at that game store window! I told you. It was after 5 pm, maybe half past, mom was in a hurry to get to that contemporary art museum. She’d wanted to go there earlier, but dad’s meeting didn’t end on time.”

“Did your parents seem stressed? Were they fighting?”

Hikaru gave her a blank look. “No.”

“So there wasn’t…”

“I’ve told you before, no! Dad was on phone, like always, some business stuff. Mom was just talking of everything she wanted to do and buy. I think. I wasn’t listening!”

“Is your father’s business going well?”

Hikaru heaved out a sigh and rolled his eyes, and answered more-or-less politely just for Sai’s urging.

 

⋆⋆⋆

Later that day they were again alone in the hotel room. Once again Mitchell had attempted to get Hikaru to move elsewhere, saying that it wasn’t good for him to be alone at the hotel – being a minor, too – but he adamantly refused. “If my parents come back I want to be here,” he just said. He had strictly refused company as well, and for now she had agreed – but only for one day longer, and she too seemed quite adamant of that.

Hikaru was lying on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, after a long, overly emotional phone call with his grandfather. The old man was quite beyond himself, home in Tokyo. If he hadn’t just barely been recovered from an influenza, he would already be halfway to Chicago. Even so, it had taken a lot of convincing from Hikaru to make him stay in Japan, no matter how strictly his doctor had forbidden traveling.

“So you didn’t hear the police say anything useful?” the boy asked Sai.

The ghost shook his head. _No. But I’m afraid I understood very little of what they said. They are clearly doing all they can._ That he added just in an attempt to make the boy feel better. He had a bad feeling of the situation. The police were clearly worried. Tomoko’s smile always disappeared the moment she turned her back to Hikaru, and her eyes were troubled.

“It’s ridiculous,” Hikaru muttered. “People don’t just disappear like that. It’s like, like…” He sat up suddenly.

 _What is it?_ Sai asked, eagerly flying to his side. _Did you remember something?_

 _No… I mean, yes…_ Hikaru jumped up and grasped his jacket. He fingered his pockets and then pulled something out, a small, slightly crumpled card.

 _Oh!_ Sai exclaimed. _The onmyouji gave you that, right? What is it?_

“A visiting card,” Hikaru muttered. “With a phone number.” He hesitated only a short moment and grasped then his phone. Sai hovered anxiously by his side as he made the call.

The phone rang, once, twice, seven times. Hikaru was biting his lip, hard, by the time someone finally answered.

“ _Dresden_ ,” a bit out of breath voice said.

“Finally!” Hikaru exclaimed. “I thought no one’s answering me these days! This is Shindou Hikaru, remember, the boy with the ghost in the pub, you gave us a ride to our hotel, and now my parents have disappeared and I was thinking maybe you could help?”

There was a moment’s silence. Then, “ _Uh, could you say that again? My Japanese was a bit… rusty_.”

Hikaru blinked. “This is Shindou Hikaru,” he repeated then, slower. “You gave me ride to my hotel from that pub day before yesterday…”

“ _Yeah, right. Thought it sounded like you. So, what’s up? About to leave country?_ ”

“I…” Hikaru paused and glanced at Sai, as if beginning to second-guess whether this was a good idea. The ghost nodded, urging him on. “The thing is… my parents have kinda… disappeared. They weren’t here when I came back that day, and no one knows where they are.”

“ _…you’ve called the police?_ ”

“Yeah, the hotel people did. But I don’t know if they have any clue what’s happened. They just keep on asking me stupid questions. And I was wondering… if… if you could…”

“ _I don’t know kid, I’m sorry to hear about your parents, but finding missing people isn’t really…_ ”

“Please?” Hikaru cut in, in a tight voice. “Couldn’t you try? It says so on your card too.” He squinted at the card. “ _Lost… found_ ,” he read out the English words.

“ _It’s ‘lost_ items _found’, to be exact. People are different. But… ugh._ ” There was a moment’s silence at the other end. Then something like a quiet sigh carried over. “ _I can take a look, I guess. You’re at the hotel? Wait there. I’ll be there in half an hour._ ”

“Thanks,” Hikaru said quietly. He ended the call and gave Sai a look. “Think this is a good idea?”

_I can’t see what harm it would cause. And if someone had disappeared, back when I was alive, I would have gone to an onmyouji for help._

Hikaru nodded, but the troubled look didn’t leave his eyes.

The boy was much too restless to wait in the hotel room. Barely ten minutes had passed before he jumped into his shoes and headed to hang outside the hotel. Sai would have wanted to tell him to calm down, to settle somewhere to wait, but guessed it would be pointless, and so he just hovered behind the boy who was walking back and worth, uncharacteristically silent.

After they had waited for what felt much longer than half an hour Sai finally spotted the form of a tall man in a long coat striding toward them.

 _Hikaru, he’s coming_ , he said quickly to the boy who spun around to look where he pointed, and right away hurried over there.

“Uh, hello.” Sai glanced at the boy who came to a sudden stop as he reached the man, shifting from one foot to another, hands clenched tightly on his side. The boy’s emotions were in such a confusing mix of worry, anxiety, fear and something he couldn’t quite name that Sai felt like this time Hikaru might be the one making him sick.

Dresden gave the boy a nod, accompanied with a smile that turned into a frown. “Hi. So. How you doing? You don’t look too good.”

“I… guess. Didn’t sleep well.” Hikaru bit his lip. “I, I’m sorry I bothered you with this, but, but… the police, I don’t know…”

Sai stood behind him, wanting to say something but not daring to, for he suddenly feared the boy might break into tears right there and then.

The awkward look on Dresden’s face said he might have had similar fears. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s a quiet day and I’m between cases anyway. And, don’t worry about your parents either, you know, lots of people disappear in the US every day.” The boy’s face fell and the man hurried to continue, “ _And_ they’re found in a few days, so there’s no need to panic, okay? These things just… uh, happen.” He frowned again and cleared his throat. “But. That’s no need just to sit back and wait, right? I’ll help you if I can.”

“You think you can find them?” The hopeful tone in the boy’s voice was enough to wrench Sai’s heart.

Possibly Dresden registered the tone too, for he nearly flinched. “I sure hope so,” he muttered. “So they disappeared on the day we met?”

“Yeah. I’m starting to think I didn’t get lost, but they did. There’s been no sign of them since then.”

“I can try to track them. You’ve got anything of theirs I could use? Hair would be good.”

“Hair?” Hikaru blinked. “I’m sure we could find at least mom’s hair in the hotel room…”

As they entered the hotel, Sai was watching the man with a certain tinge of hope in his thoughts. He didn’t mean to disparage the police forces, but he remembered from the time he had been alive that if you really needed to get something done, getting an _onmyouji_ to help was much more efficient than the police could ever be. He had been under the assumption there were no _onmyouji_ left in the modern world, and he was quite happy to have been proved wrong.

There was a moment’s confusion by the elevators, when Dresden refused to enter one.

“But… it’s the fifth floor…”

“Fifth? That’s not bad. Beats spending hours in a broken elevator. Tech and magic, remember…?”

And up the stairs they went, to the fifth floor. Truth to be told, it wasn’t that bad.

Having arrived to the hotel room Hikaru headed straight to the bathroom to search for his mother’s hairbrush. As he came out, Dresden was standing in the middle of the room, holding something in his hand.

“Are these your father’s?” he asked the boy, showing him spectacles.

“Yeah, his reading glasses. He was pretty peeved cause he forgot them here. Would have needed them at the meeting.”

Dresden nodded. “They might work. And I see you found some hair,” he added, nodding at the brush Hikaru was holding.

“Yep.”

He took a few hairs from the hairbrush and dug something out of one of the big pockets of his coat: a roll of duct tape. Hikaru watched it with slightly raised eyebrows.

Dresden saw the look and raised his eyebrows in return. “Hey, forget 42, duct tape is the answer to the universe and everything. I’d have been screwed many times without this.” He cut a piece and taped the hairs to the glasses. “Now…”

Someone knocked on the door. Hikaru glanced first at Sai, then at Dresden, who nodded while slipping the glasses and the tape into his pocket.

A nervous looking staff member, accompanied by a hotel guard faced Hikaru as he opened the door. The man smiled at him. “ _Ah, hello! Is everything alright_?” The smile, plastered on his face, twitched a bit.

“ _Umm, yes?_ ” Hikaru managed to say in English, thinking he had probably understood the question correctly. Hoping so.

Dresden appeared behind him, drawing the attention of both of the men. “ _Who are you, sir?_ ” the guard grunted.

“Harry Dresden,” Dresden said, pushing Hikaru gently back out of the way. “PI.” He went on talking and showed the men something, ID-like. After a short discussion the guard took out his phone and made a call.

Dresden glanced back at Hikaru and gave the boy a smile, if a bit tightlipped. “They’re just checking I’m not here to kidnap you too. Which is just good, I guess. Though they’re kinda slow, if that’s what I…” he cut himself off as the boy’s expression turned a bit wary.

Sai bit his lip. True, _if_ Dresden had been a threat to Hikaru, the hotel staff was much too slow to react. Of course, they _were_ only hotel staff. Maybe some kind of police protection wouldn’t have been a bad idea? How big was the chance that if someone had taken the boy’s parents, they would come after Hikaru too? He shifted nervously on his feet.

“Who’s he talking with?” Hikaru asked.

“Lieut… Sergeant Murphy. A friend in Special Investigations. I sometimes help the police when they’re up against… something unordinary. She’ll tell them I’m not some dangerous lunatic.” He frowned at the guard who was still at the phone, and added, “Hopefully.”

“ _Hello?_ ” the guard was saying. “ _Hey, hello, do you hear me?_ ” He looked at his phone, frowning, and grimaced at the screen. “ _Damn_.”

He put the phone away. “ _Everything seems to be in order_ ,” he said. The scowling look he gave Dresden said something different. “ _Just remember, he’s a minor. He can’t hire you._ ”

“ _He’s not hiring me, just asked for help. …come now, don’t be such a cynic. Can’t a man help someone out of the goodness of his heart?_ ”

“ _Last thing he needs is some charlatan…_ ”

“So is everything ok?” Hikaru asked over the discussion he couldn’t understand, impatience in his voice.

“Sure. That guy’s just being a jerk, but hey, don’t hold it against him. Bet his granny didn’t tell him enough fairytales when he was a baby. Oh, and,” he glanced at the boy, “you might want to turn off your phone before it breaks too…”

“ _Oh, you speak Japanese, Mister Dresden?_ ” the hotel staffer asked, the twitchy smile again on his face.

Dresden gave him a wide grin. “ _Not really. It’s magic,_ ” he whispered confidentially.

The man’s smile faltered. The guard snorted. After a few more sharp words the two went their way. Dresden watched after them with a raised eyebrow, and glanced then at Hikaru. “Could you show me the place where you last saw your parents?”

The boy nodded and they left as well, driving on the same old multicolored car toward that game store that had distracted Hikaru. On the way there he told Dresden once again all he had been repeating to the police. While the boy talked, Sai’s attention was stolen by the long wooden staff that had been waiting in the car, and the intricate carvings on it.

 

⋆⋆⋆

“Here,” Hikaru said, coming to a stop in front of the store. They’d left the car in a parking lot a few blocks away, and walked from there. Dresden had his staff with himself this time, and it drew some glances from passersby, which the man ignored. Hikaru gave the shop window a blank look. “I didn’t even stop for a long time, I swear! And we were going for the subway over there, I was sure I’d catch up with them easily, but they just… disappeared.”

“Hmm.” Dresden shot a glance around and waited a moment, so that a young couple passed them. “Okay, now,” he muttered when they were gone, and took out a piece of chalk.

“What are you doing?” Hikaru asked as he drew a circle on the pavement around himself.

“Whatcha think? Magic,” Dresden muttered. “Hush, give me a moment,” he added when Hikaru was about to say something.

The boy fell quiet and watched in silence as the man took out the glasses with the hair taped into them and just stood in the circle. Then he said something vaguely Latin sounding and smudged the circle with his foot.

 _Oh_ , Sai breathed.

Hikaru glanced at him but said nothing, just watched quietly but now with somewhat incredulous look as the man put the glasses on and grinned. “Perfect.”

“What is perfect?” he asked suspiciously.

“I’ve got the trail,” Dresden said, seeming to follow something with his eyes. He took the glasses of and nodded. “They’ve not gone to the subway, though. Turned to that side street.” He nodded ahead.

“What, why?”

“Isn’t that the question,” the man muttered. “Let’s take a peek.”

They turned to the side street, and soon to an even smaller one. Hikaru followed the man quietly, without a word, but Sai could see the doubt in his eyes, and his worry grew again. Then Dresden came to a stop by a metal door on an old brick wall. There were letters on white paint on the door, saying D NOT ENTLR.

Dresden watched the door with a grim look, leaning against his staff. “Undertown,” he muttered. “Of _course_ it’s got to be Undertown.”

“What?” Hikaru asked. The man just shook his head.

“Okay. Next I take you back to the hotel and…”

“No!”

Dresden frowned. “I’m not going to drag you along on an investigation,” he said sternly. “Wouldn’t do it even if you were grown up, and definitely not now. You be a good client and stay out of the way while I work on the case, okay? Besides, I’d just get distracted, having to worry over you.”

“Okay,” Hikaru said reluctantly. “I get it. But you don’t need to waste time taking me there and coming back. I can take the bus. It’s easy from here, right?”

“Yeah.” Dresden was still frowning. “I took you out, I should also see that you get back safely. It doesn’t take that…”

“I can get back on my own,” Hikaru cut him off. “If someone wanted to kidnap me they’d have taken me with my parents. And I’ve got my fare card with me so... I’ll just return to the big street and take bus number… 6, right?”

“Right.” Dresden nodded, but he didn’t look quite convinced.

“I’ll be fine,” Hikaru said dryly. “I’ll send Sai for help if something happens before I reach the bus.”

Dresden nodded again, but he still walked the boy back to the street, and made sure he’d head to the correct direction this time.

As the man disappeared again on the side street, Hikaru watched after him with a strange expression.

 _Hikaru?_ Sai said questioningly. _What are you thinking?_

The boy didn’t reply, just shook his head. Then he started walking after the man.

_Hikaru! I really don’t think this is a good idea!_

_I just want to check what he’s doing._

_But, but… seriously, it might be dangerous!_

_I’ll just take a peek!_ “Sai, stop fussing!” the boy suddenly snapped aloud, making the passersby look at him with a start. _Mom and dad could be there somewhere! In this… underground place._

 _It would be better to leave it for the onmyouji to look for them,_ Sai still tried to say, but to no avail. Hikaru wasn’t listening.

They reached the little side alley just in time to see Dresden enter through the door. Hikaru hurried to it and gave the broken lock one glance. Then he licked his lips, pushed his jaw determinedly forward, and entered after the man.

They had taken only a few steps downward the stairs behind the door, before the boy stopped, and Sai could guess why. It was dark. Pitch dark. Far ahead they could see a dim light – apparently Dresden had a flashlight.

“Sai, can you see?” Hikaru whispered.

_Probably better than you, but it is really dark._

_Okay. Here’s what we do. You walk ahead and keep an eye on his light. Don’t lose him. I’ll follow you and…_ Hikaru scrambled out his phone and turned it on, grimacing as it played the little tune. _I’ve got torch on my phone, but I got to stay far enough behind so he won’t notice me._

Sai gave a mental sigh and considered simply refusing. Whatever this place they had entered was, he had a bad feeling about it.

“Sai!” Hikaru whispered sharply. “Go after him before we lose him!”

The boy’s face was tired and drawn, the phone’s light threw strange shadows on it. But his eyes held that stubborn, designated look which Sai knew all too well, and he sighed again.

 _Fine. But if I deem it best for us to stop following him at some point, we_ will _come back right away, and I’ll listen to no complaints._

Hikaru said nothing, just nodded, tightlipped, and they set out to follow the wizard.

The bad feeling Sai had of the place only intensified the deeper they went, and he considered making good of his threat not to go further. Of course, a dark musty tunnel is unpleasant to begin with, but he was quite sure that wasn’t the only reason behind his anxiety. There was something menacing in the air, something… wicked and threatening.

 _What_ is _this place?_ he heard Hikaru’s thoughts from behind. Perhaps the boy felt it too.

 _I don’t know,_ he replied, _but I’m pretty sure we really shouldn’t be here._

The network of tunnels seemed never-ending. Soon he started to worry if they would be able to find their way back anymore. They’d walked straight, straight, turned left, straight again, then right… he hoped he would remember the crossings. Of course, one could think this wasn’t any overwhelming task for a go-player who could recall entire games – but those moves had reason behind them. He tried to think of the turns as moves on the go board, if that would help.

Suddenly he realized the little light in front of him didn’t move anymore. _Hikaru, I think he has stopped_ , he told the boy quickly. He saw Hikaru turn off his light, and the boy groped his way to him.

 _What is there?_ the boy asked.

_I’m not sure… but I get a feeling of a bigger room. I’ll go to take a look._

Sai glided soundlessly through the darkness. He had been right, the tunnel ended into some kind of a hall. He could see Dresden’s shape in the light of his – was it his _staff_ that was emitting it? – when the light suddenly died and he was left in darkness. Sai froze. He could have sworn he felt his heart beating like a drum, though how exactly that would have been possible he didn’t know. It was completely silent. _Was_ Dresden still there? He had to be, surely he hadn’t disappeared too. But was he just standing still… he couldn’t possibly be that silent…

 _Hikaru?_ Sai asked, panic intensifying. _Are you there?_

 _Yeah_ , the boy thought back. _What happened?_ He heard a soft rustle, and the boy swore. _Damn, there’s some plastic bags or something here… why did he turn off the light?_

 _I don’t know_ , Sai thought back. _I really think we should go back, this is not a good place, and…_

“Got you!” someone snarled, and Hikaru gave a shriek.

 _Hikaru!_ Sai’s rushed toward the boy, fear surging into the pit of his stomach. _Hikaru, what is happening, are you alright, did something…_

Suddenly there was light again, and Sai blinked his eyes. In front of him, Dresden was holding Hikaru with one arm, his staff in his other hand – yes, the light _did_ come from his staff – and the boy was flailing frantically with his arms.

“Hell’s bells, boy!” the man exclaimed and let go of him. “What are you doing here! Idiot!”

“I, I just wanted to, that is…”

“You have any idea how dangerous that was? How dangerous this place is? Or _me_? When you’re in Undertown and something’s following you, you attack first and ask then!  You’re lucky I didn’t just blast you to hell!”

“Uh, sorry, I…” Hikaru backed a step from the absolutely seething man, then another. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I just… just…” His shoulders slumped and he fell silent, not even producing one from his unending list of excuses.

Dresden heaved out a sigh, visibly forcing himself to calm down. “My bad, I guess. I _knew_ I should have taken you back myself.”

Hikaru just shrugged. “What is this place?” he asked.

“Long story short: the underground city. Network of tunnels, passages, sewers, pipes… layers of them. Also the place where many of the more unpleasant inhabitants of this city – natural and supernatural – like to have their dens.”

“And my parents have been here?”

“Yes.” Dresden shot a frowning look around. “But the trail ends here.”

Hikaru looked up sharply. “Ends?”

“Yep.” Dresden started walking around the hall they were in. “It leads here, clear as sunlight. And then just… ends.”

Hikaru shivered. “Why?”

“There are various possibilities. A spell to distract tracking. Or… well, other, more complicated things. But that’s what’s most likely. They might have cast the spell here, which is why I could follow them as far. Okay. Wait there while I examine this place.”

Hikaru said nothing, just watched as the man started walking around in the hall, at times mumbling something. Once he bent and seemed to be picking something from the ground, but when he finally returned to the boy, he was shaking his head. “Nothing. Let’s get going, I can’t find anything here.”

They started walking back in silence. Then Hikaru opened his mouth. After a couple of false starts he managed to say, “Could it be you can’t find them because they’re, they’re…”

Sai knew what he was trying to ask and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. It stiffened under his light touch.

“If they were dead, I should still be able to find their bodies,” Dresden said softly. “The fact that something is messing up my tracking spell is a good thing. They’d hardly do that just to hide bodies.”

Hikaru nodded, but his shoulders didn’t relax. “I don’t get it,” he muttered. “Why? Why would anyone want to kidnap my parents, of all people?”

“That’s something we need to look into. Two options: either they were after your parents specifically, or then they just needed two people, and your parents were suitable, for whatever reasons. The latter sounds more feasible to me. Your parents don’t sound like people who’d have enemies like this. Your father’s company was car manufacturing…?”

“Yeah,” Hikaru snorted. “And he’s not even that high up. His superior was supposed to come here, but broke his leg, and then dad was sent in his stead.”

They reached the doorway, and Sai gave a relieved breath as they stepped into the sunlight.

“Well. I’ll take you _now_ to your hotel, and then go home to…” Dresden fell silent at the look Hikaru gave him. “Fine,” he huffed then. “I need to go home to check something. You can come along there, it’s anyway closer than your hotel. But after that I _will_ take you back to your hotel. Hell, I’ll call Murphy and tell her you need police protection, if that’s what it takes to keep you somewhere safe. Got it?”

Hikaru just smiled at him, thinly. Sai was shaking his head behind the boy’s back.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're up to chapter 3. From now on updates are once a week - or at least I'll try to keep that schedule. We'll see how that goes...

**Chapter 3**

The drive to Dresden’s home wasn’t long, but a very quiet one and somewhat awkward, at least to Sai’s mind. The man parked the car by the street and led the boy to a big old wooden house. He went down a few steps to a basement door, and stopped there.

“Wait a minute,” he muttered.

“What?” Hikaru asked after a moment.

“Done. Had to take down the wards.” He gave the boy a sharp look. “Listen, kid: _don’t_ walk through this door on your own, okay? It’s got wards on it that’d be enough to blast something dozen times your size all the way to Mozambique.” He paused. “Slight exaggeration, maybe. The Mozambique part. …alright, please come in. Both of you.”

“O-kay,” Hikaru said slowly. He didn’t sound quite convinced. Sai made a mental note to make sure the boy wouldn’t approach the door on his own.

Having entered, he paused to take a look at the room. The place was small, but much tidier than he had expected. The furniture seemed old but comfy, the floor was covered with different rugs and the walls with bookshelves – and a Star Wars poster. There was a small kitchenette, a door to another room, and a fireplace, by which was lying…

Something huge suddenly ran past him, dodging him in passing, and headed out of the door before he could register no more than a long grey tail.

_Oh!_

“That was a big cat!” Hikaru said with a laugh. “Gave you a scare, Sai? It went out, is that ok?” he asked Dresden.

“Yeah, it’s fine. He’ll come back when he’s done with confirming the order in his realm. Just close the door, would you?”

“Okay,” Hikaru said, just as hesitantly as before, probably wondering if the man had been joking or not.

Sai was about to say something about cats and their arrogant nature, when the thing at the fireplace drew his attention again. He froze, staring at it. It was huge, wooly, grey, and standing up it came up to Sai’s waist.

“Wow.” Hikaru breathed, following his gaze. “Is that a _dog_?”

The creature let out a vibrating growl that was more questioning than threatening, but still made the boy and the ghost alike to back a step.

“Oh, that’s Mouse,” Dresden said. “It’s ok, boy, they’re friends.” The huge dog’s tail thumped twice at this, hitting against the wall. The sound reminded Sai of Hikaru’s mother beating carpets.

“Mouse?” Hikaru asked. “As in, his name is Mouse?”

“Yeah. As for his breed, he’s half a woolen mammoth, half a rhino.”

“Can I pet him?” Hikaru asked carefully. The dog gave a bark before Dresden could say anything, and sat down raising one of his paws while his tail thumped against the floor with such fervor it wouldn’t have taken long to clean even a large carpet.

“Wow, you’re amazing!” Hikaru exclaimed quietly as he crouched down in front of the dog, scratching with both hands behind the ears.

Dresden snorted. “Don’t praise him too much. He already imagines he’s smarter than most people. Which of course is true, but let’s not get into that,” he added under his breath.

Sai was staring at the dog with widening eyes. He wasn’t sure of what he was seeing, in fact he didn’t have any idea if what he _thought_ he was seeing actually could somehow be real, or if he really had lost it, but… this dog…

_Komainu_ , he breathed, and the dog’s eyes turned to look straight at him. _How can there be a real living komainu here?_

“What?” Hikaru gave him a questioning look with raised eyebrows. “You mean, like those lion dog guardian statues at the temples? What are you talking about?”

Sai was too stunned to answer. His knees felt weak, and he slid slowly down to sit on the floor in seiza. Or maybe to kneel, he wasn’t quite certain.

Now he had the dog’s full attention. He could have sworn this… Mouse? was watching him. Hikaru noticed this too.

“What, can the dog _see_ him?” he asked, disbelieving.

Dresden looked at them from the kitchen where he had been rummaging for a drink and blinked. “Can you, boy?” he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

The dog barked, the tail gave one _thump!_ and then he was suddenly in front of Sai, tail wagging, one paw on the ghost’s shoulder, and very large and very wet dog tongue running all over his face.

_O…oh, hey, c’mon, you…_ Sai spluttered, falling backwards, and Mouse followed him with an excited bark. A moment it seemed like the dog was attempting to sit on his lap. _Oh, you, you’re much too big, come, now…_ Sai made a feeble attempt to push the dog aside and managed in the end to sit up.

_Oh gods,_ he breathed, as Mouse sat down next to him, leaning against him heavily as he rubbed the dog’s side. Leaning. Against him. Heavily. _Oh gods,_ Sai repeated, and felt like crying. In fact, he probably was, but couldn’t care less. _I can touch him! Hikaru, I can… I can really… oh gods!_ He hugged the dog who gave a happy grunt.

“Wow,” Hikaru said, very quietly. Sai looked up, blinking tears from his eyes, and saw the boy staring at him with wide eyes from the fireplace where he was still crouching on the floor. He glanced toward Dresden who was standing in the kitchen a coke in each hand, with an expression that was so similar to Hikaru’s that he couldn’t help laughing out loud.

_I can touch him!_ Sai exclaimed happily, scratched the dog behind his ears and rubbed then fervently his tummy as the dog rolled on his back. _Mouse, huh? Yes, you_ are _a good boy!_

“Well, that was interesting,” Dresden stated flatly. “Coke?” He offered one of the cans to Hikaru. “Say, can you see all ghosts?”

Hikaru opened his mouth as if to answer, but Mouse gave a loud bark before he could say anything.

“And can they all touch you?” Dresden went on. Now the dog (and Hikaru as well) was quiet, just tilted his head a bit. “Okay, I’ll ask Bob about that.” He took a long a swig of the coke and wiped his mouth. “Alright. You wait here. I,” he bent down, dragged a rug aside, and opened a trapdoor, “go to check some things. Don’t come down here, ok?” He gave Hikaru a look that made the boy swallow. “Got it? Under any circumstances. Promise you stay up here.”

It wasn’t a question. “I… promise,” Hikaru said quietly. The man nodded and disappeared somewhere in the cellar, closing the trapdoor after himself. Hikaru watched the trapdoor thoughtfully a moment, but came then to Sai and Mouse and also started rubbing the dog’s belly.

“I wonder what he’s doing down there,” he pondered aloud after a while had passed.

_Onmyouji things_ , Sai said strictly. _Better not to get involved._

_Yes, but…_ Hikaru licked his lips.

_No¸_ Sai said. _Whatever you’re thinking about, no._

Hikaru turned to look at him, pausing from the dog belly rubbing. _You could go take a peek._

_No! Absolutely not! No more of this ‘just taking a peek’ nonsense. It could be dangerous!_

_Just a quick look, how’s that…_

Mouse gave a whining sound and whacked softly at the boy’s arm. He started rubbing the dog again, absentmindedly.

_Sai, please. We need to know if we can trust him, right?_

Sai gave him a wry look. _Why wouldn’t you trust him?_

_What do we even know about him! He could be fake or something! Okay, so, he sees you and has that shiny staff…_ and _a funny dog…_ the boy paused and glanced down at Mouse who met his gaze with big sad dog eyes. _But what has he_ done _so far? Drew a circle on the ground and then walked around and found nothing. Just… go to take a peek on what he’s really doing down there?_

Sai paused, considering the boy’s words. He could understand Hikaru’s point, though he personally had no doubt that Dresden was exactly what he claimed to be. The man had an aura unlike any other he had ever seen. Besides, he had felt the release of energy back when Dresden had broken his circle. _Something_ had been happening there, whether or not they saw it.

So. Dresden was an onmyouji, a _wizard_ , as they said in this part of the world. And onmyouji were… dangerous. They knew the old lore, measured the heavens and divided the fortune, and… banished spirits.

_You… promised,_ he still tried, a bit weakly.

_I did! You didn’t! Please, just a quick peek? He doesn’t even see you all the time, he won’t notice._

Sai wasn’t quite convinced, but nodded still. Mouse heaved out a great sigh, rolled over and laid his head down on his front paws. Sai gave the dog a guilty glance. _I’ll… be very careful, okay? If he’s… doing something, I’ll get right up again. I’m not going to disrupt any, uh, rituals, or, what… ever he might be doing._

Mouse sighed again and just watched him with that sad look all dogs master.

_How do I let him talk myself into these things,_ Sai muttered to himself as he floated down through the trapdoor.

The cellar was more what Sai would have expected from an onmyouji’s residence. There was a long table in the middle of the room and other tables along the walls. Over the tables there were shelves full of things: cages, boxes, jars, all kinds of cans and containers, many old books and a long row of notebooks, plus a peculiar looking pair of antlers. On one side of the floor there was a brass circle laid out on the cement, held down with bolts.

Dresden was sitting by one of the tables, unmoving – dressed in a bathrobe. Sai froze for a moment, but as the man didn’t seem to react to his presence nor be doing anything that looked like it might explode or unleash demons or anything such, he moved carefully a bit closer.

There was some kind of a model of a city on the table, Sai noted with a little frown. A very finely made model, complete with trees and bushes and even the little paths, but whatever use could an onmyouji have for something like that? Besides…. He looked at Dresden and his frown deepened. Was the man asleep? Or… perhaps he was meditating? Though this didn’t look like any meditation Sai knew about, the way he was slumped there by the table.

He took another step closer.

“Well!” a voice exclaimed, and Sai gave a little yelp, jumping to look back. There was no one in the room. “He never said the ghost was such a looker!”

Sai blinked. He glanced frantically around, but still couldn’t see anyone. Though… there was a skull on the shelf, next to a candle and some old books, and its eyes were emitting an orange light.

Sai gulped and edged toward the stairs.

“What a lucky guy, the boy you’re haunting!” the voice went on. “How did…” A funny thing happened: the skull’s eye sockets seemed to widen a bit. “Wait. You’re not female.”

_What?_ Sai exclaimed, his fear suddenly forgotten. _Of course I’m not!_ He suddenly remembered Dresden’s comment from when they first met, ‘at least I assume that’s a guy’. _Are you people all blind?!_

There was a strange sound, as if someone blew out air through tight lips, and Sai paused to wonder how a skull would make such a sound.

“Heian era, right?” Now that Sai was watching the skull he could locate the source of the voice there. “You’ve got to know your… appearance is quite unorthodox. Did you really look like that when you were living? Why? Are you somehow, you know, ‘different’?” The skull seemed to be _winking_ at him.

_I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about¸_ Sai said, feeling genuinely disturbed. _What do you know about my time, anyway? It was over a thousand years ago on the other side of the world! A skull in a cellar in Chicago…_

“Hey, I’m a spirit of intellect! I _know_ , okay? The skull gave a sigh. “Oh well. Here I thought my luck was turning, that for once a hot chick – though with way too much clothing – was coming down here, but no, of course not.”

_A spirit of… intellect?_ Sai gave the skull an incredulous look.

“Exactly.” The skull’s voice was quite flat. “My name is Bob.”

_…Bob._

“Yes. What? It’s a fine name! A name of my own, that’s, that’s…” The skull huffed. “And if you don’t like it, complain to him.” The light in the eyes flicked toward the still unmoving form by the table. “He gave it to me.”

_Oh, it’s a fine name, of course it is,_ Sai said hurriedly. _I’m very sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. I am Fujiwara no Sai._

“Pleased to meet you, by all means. And what would you be doing down here?”

_Oh, I_ , Sai shifted nervously. _I was just checking, you know, we don’t really, that is, know him that well, and…_ He glanced at the man, still slumping by the table. _What is he doing, anyway?_

“Something quite dangerous. I’d suggest you stay apart. There’s enough energy loaded into that thing to…”

Sai had moved closer, curious, and bending over the model city he suddenly could feel the energy the spirit was talking about. It made his scalp tickle.

“ _ **Hey! Are you listening to me? Stay away!**_ ”

Sai jerked back, flustered. _Oh, I’m sorry, I just, wanted to see…_

“See if you could blow the whole building to hell? I told you, there’s a strong spell at work there, don’t disrupt it with any outside energies.”

Sai sniffed, a little offended. _I wasn’t going to disrupt anything. No need to yell._

“Right, Rapunzel. You can stay here, but only if you behave. Otherwise, get back up.”

Sai sniffed again at the sharp tone. _Maybe I will go._ He turned and started climbing up the stairs.

“Hey, don’t be such a baby,” came the voice from the skull. “I’m just doing my job. Got to look over the boss while he’s… away.”

Sai paused. He had come down to see what was going on. If he now returned up to report to Hikaru that Dresden seemed to be napping by a table, that wouldn’t really help.

_Away?_ He came back down. _What is he doing?_

The skull was quiet for a long moment, then apparently decided there was no harm in explaining. “That’s a model of the city, covering almost two miles from Burnham Harbor in every direction. It’s damn good work, even if I say it myself – don’t think he could have made it without my help. And it’s got pieces of real buildings and trees in it, so it’s thaumaturgically connected to the city.”

_Thaumaturgically?_

“You know, like Harry was using that hair to track the kid’s parents? A little piece is connected to the bigger piece it came from.”

_Alright._ Sai considered this a moment. _You still didn’t tell me what he is doing._

“Exploring the city in spirit form through this model Chicago.”

Sai’s eyes widened. _Really? That’s incredible._

“Isn’t it?” The skull sounded smug.

_How long will he be gone?_

“Hopefully not too long.” Somehow Sai got an impression of a frown. “It’s quite trying. Takes a lot of energy, and he cannot feel when his body runs out of it when he’s in Little Chicago.”

_Oh._ Sai was watching the slumped form with new respect. _But what is he doing there? Does he have a lead?_

“Perhaps _._ ” A shrug. “But what about you? How long have you been with the boy?”

_A couple of years._

“Really _?_ ” The skull sounded surprised. “And there’s been no trouble?”

_…no. None,_ Sai replied, and suppressed a shiver of apprehension. _Why would there be trouble._

It wasn’t a question, and Bob didn’t answer it, but said instead, “Hey… how come you’re walking here on your own in daytime? What’s your sanctum?”

Sai blinked. _My what?_

“You know, where you reside during sunlight hours? Your vessel?” When Sai just stared at the skull, uncomprehending, he again got the feeling of widening eye sockets. It was slightly disturbing. “The boy himself? Really?”

_What do you mean?_ Sai asked, a little uncomfortable.

The skull whistled. Sai decided to stop paying so much attention to all these impossible sounds and effects. “So when he goes out, you go out? You can walk out there? In the _sun_? Neat!”

_You mean you can’t?_

“A spirit needs to have a sanctum to return to during daytime, or it will dissolve. Surely you’re aware of that? Not? Seriously, how have you spent a thousand years as a ghost, and don’t know anything! …okay, okay, don’t get all puffy again! That’s just, like, the basic-most info for any new spirit. Where did you stay before you got to this boy? Surely you’ve not been just jumping from human to human, all this time?”

_No. I remained in a go board._

“A go board?” The tone was genuinely surprised, and Sai straightened his back, ready to defend his beloved game. “Oh, yeah, Harry did mention something about you wanting just to play go when he told me about you. Kind of funny.” Sai frowned. The tone made the choice of words sound more like ‘funny’ as in ‘interesting’, rather than ‘funny’ as in ‘amusing’, and he wasn’t quite certain if it was too early to take offense or not.

“So, are you good?” Bob asked.

_I would dare to say so. I used to be the emperor’s go tutor. I am striving to attain the Divine Move._

“Oh? Well, that’s something. And you’ve got to have a fair deal of passion for the game, if it was enough to make a ghost. I’d invite you in for a game if I didn’t need to keep an eye on boss… maybe some time later?”

Sai’s eyes widened. _You play go?_

The skull snorted. “Spirit of intellect, remember? Of course I play go.”

_That’s, that’s… wonderful!_ Sai practically flew to the shelf and placed his hands on the skull, would have picked it up in his eagerness if he could. _Oh, we do have to play! I have never played against a spirit before, only humans! That would be so exciting, so, so… oh, I can’t wait! Can’t we have a game right away? Just a little one, speed go or something? Please?_

“Oh,” Bob said, as Sai kept on staring at the skull with a beaming, hopeful look. “Uh. That is, I…” The lights in the skull’s eyes blinked. “Are you _sure_ you’re not female?” he then asked.

Sai blinked as well and let go of the skull. _Of course._

“Because if that’s true, then I’m having a sexual identity crisis.”

Sai blinked again and backed away a bit. _What?_

“Bloody hell,” Bob muttered. “Now, don’t tell Harry. He’ll be a jerk about it, especially after I teased him about him and Thomas.”

_I… most definitely won’t_ , Sai said slowly. _You… how can you even have a sexual identity, you’re a skull!_

“I’m no more a skull than you were a go board when you were in it!” Bob exclaimed.

“What,” a voice cut in, “are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” said Sai and Bob at the same time.

“Sounded like it,” Dresden muttered, sitting up by the table, rubbing his temples. “Who was a go board?”

“No one,” Bob answered. “But…” He paused, lights in the eyes flicking briefly to Sai. “Oh, boss, you can’t see him now, right? The ghost is here. And he wasn’t a go board, he was _sealed_ into one. …and I still feel it’s just wrong to say ‘he’.”

“The ghost is here? Hell…” Dresden looked up, there was again that short flash of light Sai remembered from the pub, and the man’s eyes stopped on him. “I think I told you to stay up there!”

_Umm, you told Hikaru, to be exact_ , Sai said, feeling a little guilty. _I just… came to take a look. To… be sure of everything. And I haven’t touched anything, just had a discussion with your, your…_ He glanced at the skull, wondering what would be the best way to describe it.

“His loyal spiritual guide, irreplaceable adviser, inexhaustible source of ancient wisdom,” Bob said.

“My pain-in-the-ass pervert of a spirit, more like it,” Dresden said, and the skull hissed.

“See what I’ve got to work with?” he said to Sai. “I who have been the aide to countless great wizards since the Dark Ages! And this is where I end up! No respect at all. He doesn’t even bring any girls down here to lighten my days, doesn’t make a single love potion…”

“Bob, _please_ ,” Dresden said, hand again on his temple. “Shut up.”

The skull huffed but said nothing.

_So, did you find anything?_ Sai asked carefully, deciding to ignore the other spirit for now. He was still moderately excited about the potential go game, but was beginning to suspect it might be safer to pass it, no matter how disappointing that thought was.

“Possibly,” Dresden said. “The boy’s upstairs, right? It’s faster to tell this to you both at the same time.”

He started heading up, and Sai followed him. “What about me?” came Bob’s voice from behind them.

“Take a nap, I’ll talk to you later,” Dresden replied.

“No respect at all,” Sai still heard Bob muttering as he left the cellar after the man.

“Well.” Dresden had paused after reaching the ground floor and stood in the middle of the room watching something. Sai hurried to his side and stopped too.

Hikaru had curled up next to Mouse, half lying over the dog. The boy was fast asleep. Mouse raised his head a little, glancing at them, sniffed then at the boy’s hand before lowering his head again, letting out a soft sigh. Sai walked to Hikaru and knelt down next to him. It seemed to him there were tear streaks on the boy’s face. He sighed too, and patted softly Mouse’s head. The dog’s tail gave a single quiet thump against the floor.

_Could we let him sleep a little?_ he asked Dresden. _He didn’t sleep much at all last night…_

Dresden sighed in his turn. “I’d hoped to talk to you through him, so I wouldn’t need to keep the Sight open all the time… but I guess.” He gave the dog and the sleeping boy a long look, an unreadable expression on his face. “That dog… really is something.”

Mouse wagged his tail softly again, and shortly a wide doggy grin flashed on his face.

Dresden sat down, taking of his bathrobe and throwing it on the back of the couch. “It’s cold down there,” he said, a little defensively, seeing how Sai was eyeing the piece of clothing. He gestured to Sai to take a seat too. After short consideration the ghost settled down on a rug on the floor. _If you don’t mind,_ he said. _I’m more used to this._

Dresden just shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He sighed and leaned back on the couch. “Truth to be told, I don’t have much. I _did_ in fact get something there in the Undertown, but I’m still not even sure if that was connected to your case or not. There was some residual magic there. Someone’s performed a spell there, a pretty strong one, but I’m not sure about its nature. But it might have been a couple of days ago, so the timing’s about right. And given that that’s where the trail ended…”

Sai nodded. _It could very well be connected. What were you doing now in that model of the city?_

“Tried to track that residual magic to its caster. Had to do it right away, it won’t last for long anymore. One more sunrise, and the last remainders of it will most likely be wiped away.”

_And did you have any luck?_

“Some, I think. Do you remember seeing a middle-aged woman, possibly of Polynesian origin or such?”

Sai considered, shook then his head. _Not that I’d be sure what someone ‘possibly of Polynesian origin’ looks like._

“Black hair, brown skin? She was meeting a heavily tattooed young man at a restaurant. That ring any bells? They spoke in a language I didn’t understand, but I’d place it around there. The man was scared about something… and perhaps of her. Anyway, she was the one who performed the spell in that Undertown hall.”

_You are sure of that?_

“Yeah. For what it helps. I didn’t get as much as I’d have liked. I don’t know what they were talking about, or even who they were. But at least I’ve got a face now. I can ask around, someone like her shouldn’t be hard to find. She has some real skill too, as she was able to notice me spying on her. Had to retreat pretty hastily…”

_So next you will_ … Sai started to say, but right then the phone rang. Dresden rose to answer it, Hikaru raised his head up on the floor.

“Dresden.”

Sai got up and walked to Hikaru. _How are you?_

The boy yawned, shrugged. Didn’t reply. “Did I sleep long?”

_Not really. But Hikaru, there is no doubt. This man is a real onmyouji, and a strong one. He had sent his spirit out to explore the city when I went down._

“Really?” the boy whispered, eyes widening. Then he frowned. “How do you know that? Did you see his spirit?”

_No, but…_

_So how do you know he wasn’t faking it?_

_Hikaru._ Sai gave the boy a level look. _He is real. I can_ feel _his power. In addition, he has down there a spirit that is serving him, possibly some kind of a shikigami. A spirit at least as old as I am._

“Okay, okay. I believe you. Maybe he is the real thing.” Hikaru didn’t still sound quite convinced.

Mouse gave a quiet affirmative woof, and poked Hikaru with a paw. The boy smiled and scratched the dog’s head. “What, you say he’s the real thing too?”

“Whuff,” Mouse replied, very seriously and with a little nod of his head, and Hikaru paused a moment from his scratching.

“…okay.”

“ _Thanks, Murph_ ,” Dresden was saying. “ _See you_.”

Sai and Hikaru both looked at him as he finished the call.

“That was your police friend?” Hikaru hazarded a guess.

Dresden nodded. “Yep. And she had some interesting info.”

The boy straightened his back. “Yes?”

“There’s been a peak in tourists going missing here in the last few days. From all over the world. Norway, India and…” he glanced down at his notes, frowning. “Gabon? That’s in West Africa. What the hell are all these people doing here, anyway? But as it is, there’s been altogether four cases, so far. All couples.”

Hikaru was full of attention. “So what does that mean?”

“Don’t know yet. But… I don’t really believe in coincidences. It’s time for you to return to the hotel. I’ve got some serious snooping to be done. Though…” He glanced at his watch. “Are you hungry? It’s soon 3 pm and I’ve not eaten today.”

“Oh, I… I’m not really…”

_Hikaru, you’ve not eaten today either, barely had anything at the breakfast. You should eat something, whether you’re hungry or not._

“Burger King ok? On me, this time.” Dresden grasped his coat and threw it on. “Murph’s going to get me at least a day’s pay for this case.”

Hikaru shrugged. “It’s fine.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many typos in this chapter. "You could go tale a pee." Sai sitting in a seiza on the wall. (I'd want to see that. As a ghost, he probably could, though?) Also, the first version mentioned thresholds, and it turns out Harry has a trashhold. Maybe I wrote this chapter a bit too fast, and didn't quite control my fingers. Or my mind. xD I hope I caught them all.
> 
> Just to share of some of my favorite Dresden Files fanart... This picture just cracks me up. Harry, Bob, and Little Chicago after some… trouble. [Early Experiments by Melody-Lu](https://melody-lu.deviantart.com/art/Early-experiments-265002796)  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wanted to start this chapter "A wizard, a ghost and a teenage go pro walked into a Burger King…" but didn’t.
> 
> A bit shorter chapter... buuut at least there's action.

**Chapter 4**

Hikaru was eating his hamburger slowly, mechanically, one small bite at a time. He didn't seem to enjoy his meal much, or to be eager for chatting, and Dresden had soon given up any attempts, completely focusing on his own meal. Sai too was sitting in silence, watching them, idly wondering about what these burgers could possibly taste like. He knew that despite his current apathy Hikaru loved them, but apparently they were also to an onmyouji's taste, a fact that made him quite curious about them. Or perhaps that was just because the man was American? He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that hamburgers were a very American thing.

He sighed, shaking his head. Why was he thinking about such trivial things at a time like this? _He_ would have wanted to talk with Dresden, ask him more about what he planned next, but Hikaru had glumly ignored his first question, and the man had not been using this third eye thing out in the public – not wanting to take any chances, whatever he meant by that.

Sai shifted a little, sighed again, and Hikaru shot him an annoyed look out of the corner of his eye. He tried to sit more still, as if there was nothing on his mind, but apparently didn't succeed too well, for soon the boy rolled his eyes.

"Okay. What?"

Dresden looked up but seemed to realize Hikaru wasn't talking to him.

_Oh, could you ask him exactly how he will find this woman he told me about?_

Hikaru frowned. _What woman?_

_I told you on the way! The woman he tracked in the miniature city, the one who had performed the spell in that underground place! How will he find her?_

"Sai wants to know how you'll find the woman you were tracking," Hikaru said aloud, still frowning.

"Good question," Dresden mumbled, mouth full of hamburger. He swallowed. "I bet she's taken steps not to be easily found. I think I'll need to ask some friends for help."

 _Friends?_ Sai asked. _What friends?_ Hikaru repeated his question.

Dresden took another bite of his burger and shook his head. "Sorry, can't tell you. They wouldn't like it."

 _How soon…_ Sai started to ask. Hikaru grimaced. "Can't you do that eye thing again so you can talk directly to Sai? It's tiring to have to repeat everything he says."

 _You tire easily_ , Sai said disapprovingly, but Dresden shrugged.

"I guess it's ok here. I doubt this place can be _too_ horrid." A flash of light, and Sai blinked.

 _What_ is _that light, really?_ he asked.

"What light?" Dresden had been about to take a sip of his coke but paused.

_The light that always flashes when you open the Sight._

"There is a light? Really?" He sipped the coke. "No idea. Could ask Bob, if he knows."

 _Does he really know so many things?_ Sai asked. He wasn't completely convinced of the intellect status of the other spirit.

"Yeah." Dresden gave him a wry grin. "I know what he's like, trust me… but he's a good guy – for a skull – and he _does_ have immense knowledge of… well. Pretty much anything, magic related."

 _How did you get him?_ Sai asked, curious, but Hikaru sighed.

"Is that really what you wanted to talk about?"

Sai blinked, and Dresden seemed just happy to skip answering that question.

_Oh, yes, I… what was I going to ask… oh, that's it, how soon you think you might get help from these… friends?_

"If they can find her, it will probably be pretty quick. But it all depends…" Suddenly the man froze in mid-sentence, staring somewhere behind Hikaru's back. Sai followed his gaze and saw nothing, just a couple of ordinary looking men entering the place.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Trouble. _Don't_ look." Dresden stuffed the rest of his hamburger into his mouth and looked at the boy's tray. "You gonna finish that?"

Hikaru shrugged. Poked at his fries. "I'm not that hungry."

"Let's go then." Dresden stood up and grasped his tray. "Follow me."

They took the trays to the garbage cans. Dresden grasped Hikaru's leftover fries and munched them as he walked briskly on, toward the sign pointing at the toilets. Hikaru followed him without a word, Sai scurrying after them, shooting worried glances across the place, wondering what was going on. He saw one of the men walking after them while the other remained standing near the door. _One of them is following us_ , he whispered.

As soon as they were behind the corner Dresden suddenly sprinted by the toilets, toward a door with the text "staff only". Hikaru hesitated for half a step but ran then after him. They ran through the kitchen, ignoring the startled shouts from the restaurant staff, hit another door and entered a corridor. Someone ran after them, telling them to stop, but they had already reached a backdoor which flung open in front of them at a command Dresden yelled out. He sprinted across the parking lot, reached his car and had the motor running, now on the first try, by the time Hikaru flung himself on the other seat.

"What is it?" the boy asked panting.

"Ghouls," Dresden muttered as he drove out of the parking lot, wheels screeching. "Of course, _maybe_ they just came in for some Whoppers, but in general they like their meat less well-done."

Hikaru was twisting his neck, trying to look out through the back window. "Is that them?" he asked, and Dresden gave a glance at the rear mirror and swore. Two men had flung themselves on motorcycles and were driving after them. "They look like ordinary people," the boy went on.

"Yeah, well, good thing you were lazy and had me open the Sight, then."

"Can't you fight them?"

"I'd love to." The pure hate on the man's voice made Sai shudder. "…but I'd better not, in a public place like this."

They sped through a crossing right before the light turning red – or possibly slightly after. Sai glanced behind, hopeful, but the honking of horns told him the red light had barely slowed down their pursuers.

"Okay," Dresden muttered. "Beetle's tough, but no way can we shake off motorcycles. We need to— ah, that's it." He swerved suddenly to right, and then again, and they came to a smaller backstreet in an industrial area, with cars parked on the side but with practically no traffic. "Alright then… take the wheel, kid."

"What?!" Hikaru – and Sai – stared at the man with wide eyes.

"Take the wheel! C'mon, just see that we keep on going straight, that's all!" Dresden was already rolling down the window on his side. He shot a sharp look over his shoulder at Hikaru, snapped once more, "Take the damn wheel!" and the startled boy obeyed.

While Hikaru was holding the wheel he half climbed out of the window, taking something from under his coat, a wooden rod, with similar carvings as on his staff. Hanging out of the window he tried to get his balance, pointed the rod at their pursuers, and shouted " _Fuego!_ " Fire blasted out of the rod, engulfing the leading motorcycle in flames.

Sai fell back on the backseat out of pure startlement. The car swerved as Hikaru glanced behind. "What? What happened?"

 _Eyes on the street Hikaru!_ Sai cried out, as Dresden let out a startled grunt and struggled to pull himself back into the car.

 _That was incredible!_ Sai exclaimed, turning again to look back. _You got them both!_

Hikaru was twisting around, staring out of the rear window at the flames they were quickly leaving behind. "Wow. Did you kill them?"

"Hardly," Dresden said. "That will just slow them down a bit."

Sai and Hikaru both shot him a look, and then glanced at each other.

"So… what are they?" the boy asked slowly, sitting again down on his seat, as Dresden again stepped on the accelerator and they sped away.

"Ghouls. Creatures of Nevernever." The boy gave him a blank look, and he frowned. "Uh, it's… you've heard of Faerie? Well, Faerie's part of it, but Nevernever's bigger. A lot bigger. And ghouls… are vicious. Let's leave it at that. Hopefully you won't have to see more of them." He glanced at the rear-view mirror.

 _Are we going back to your home?_ Sai asked, and Hikaru repeated the question, realizing Dresden apparently didn't hear Sai at the moment.

"Yeah. Just in case. I'm a bit worried about how quickly those ghouls turned up."

_Maybe that woman sent them after you?_

There was a moment's silence. Then Hikaru sighed. "Sai's asking if that woman possibly sent them after you. Look, can't you talk with him directly…"

"Not when I'm driving. And though that's _technically_ possible, I doubt it. She sensed my presence, but it's unlikely she had time to find out who was spying on her. Also, even if she did know it was me, being able to track me this quickly with nothing serving as a link…" He shook his head. "Unlikely."

 _But if the ghouls came there because of us, and if they weren't chasing you, doesn't that mean…_ Sai fell silent.

"…they were after me?" Hikaru asked, very quietly.

Dresden grimaced. "Maybe they just did want those Whoppers, and us fleeing turned on their prey drive."

Hikaru shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah right," he said flatly. "But they shouldn't be able to track me either, right?"

"Well…" Dresden fell quiet for a moment, as if considering what to say. "The thing is," he then went on, "if they are working for those who kidnapped your parents… they do have the means to track you. Your parents, that is," he added as the boy looked at him, uncomprehending. "You share their blood."

"Oh." The boy swallowed.

They drove in silence until Dresden turned to his home street. "Okay. Once we stop, get straight out of the car and run to the front door, got it?"

Hikaru nodded, tightlipped. He took a deep breath and jumped out of the car already before it had completely stopped. The boy started running toward the house, and Sai followed him. There came a slam of the car door from behind them, sound of quick footsteps – and then a growl, a snarl, and a loud call, " _Ventas servitas!_ "

Sai spun around just in time to see a strong gust of wind throwing one of their followers through the air while the other jumped down from somewhere – Sai couldn't quite fathom from where, certainly not from the roof?

The man landed neatly on all fours… but _man_ was not the correct word to describe this creature anymore. Sai swallowed and took a step back, hearing Hikaru gasp behind him as the ghoul turned to face them. Its body had deformed, its clothes partly stretching, partly ripping. It was tall, certainly taller than any normal man, its arms long, hanging down to its knees, ending with huge spade-like hands that had nails that could only be described as talons. But the face was the worst, jaws gaping unnaturally wide revealing huge teeth, sickly yellow bulging eyes staring unblinking from a grey face that had barely any relation left to human anymore.

The same instant the ghoul was on its feet it started rushing toward Hikaru. "Oh no you won't," Dresden gasped, still lying sprawled on the ground after the first ghoul's attack. He spun his staff toward the ghoul and shouted " _Ventas cyclis!_ " and the wind rose again, this time in a cyclone that grasped the attacking ghoul and spun it across the street.

Dresden was back on his feet. "Catch!" he yelled, and threw something at Hikaru. "Open the door but _don't_ go in!"

The boy caught the keys and turned to fumble with them at the door while Dresden spun around to get ready for the ghouls that were again approaching.

Hikaru got the door open and looked like he wanted nothing as much as rush in. _The wards!_ Sai exclaimed, grabbing the boy. _You can't enter!_

"Mouse!" Dresden yelled the moment the door opened, but the dog was out already, flinging himself against one of the attacking ghouls with a growl that seemed to echo from the ground. Dresden faced the other ghoul, raising his arm to block the ghoul's blow. Sai wouldn't have believed it to help – the beast's talons alone were like small knives – but although the strength of the strike made the man stagger back and hit the wall with force, there appeared something like a shield of blueish light that seemed to block the worst of it.

" _Forzare!_ " the man snarled with another spin of the staff, but this time he missed the ghoul as it rolled aside more nimbly than one would have believed of something so big. In the middle of its roll it targeted another swipe at the wizard, who just barely had his shield ready. This time the power of the swipe was aimed upward, and it caught the man with his shield and all, flinging him up in the air. He came crashing down on his car and lay a moment there, stunned, before sliding to the ground.

The ghoul made a move toward him, but right then the other ghoul let out an ear-splitting shriek of pain. Mouse had locked his teeth around the ghoul's arm, and with a powerful twist of his head tore the whole arm off. The dog let the ghoul fall back, still screaming its rage and pain, and flung himself on the back of the one approaching Dresden, all teeth and claws. The ghoul managed to throw the dog off, but this had given Dresden time to gather his wits.

" _Fuego!_ "

Flames hit the ghoul, engulfing it. It did little to slow down the beast, but in a moment Mouse was back at Dresden's side, teeth bared in a growl. The ghoul paused, its clothes on fire, grey skin blistering, and shot a glance at its companion, and as one they dashed away as quickly as they had appeared.

Dresden heaved out a long breath and leaned heavily against his car, lowering his staff on his lap. The carvings in the staff were still glowing softly. Then he raised his other hand to scratch Mouse's side. "Good boy," he muttered. The dog turned to him shortly, gave him a quick lick on his face, before turning to look after the ghouls again.

"Uh." Hikaru shifted on his feet, mouth still open, eyes very wide. He had stood frozen on his place through the whole fight – which, Sai realized, couldn't have lasted longer than a couple of minutes, though it didn't feel like that. The boy seemed to be trying to say something, but couldn't find his tongue. Sai understood him very well.

He was going to ask if the man was alright, when another door in the building opened, and an old woman stepped out. Seeing Dresden still sitting on the ground, leaning against his car, she paused, a surprised expression spreading across her face.

" _Oh, Mr. Dresden! Are you alright? What has happened to you?_ "

The man gasped. Managed a weak smile. " _I just… slipped, Mrs. Spunkelcrief._ "

" _Sipped? Sipped what? In the middle of the day? You haven't been driving, have you?_ " She clicked with her tongue. " _Now, dear boy, this isn't like you. Do go home and don't give the youth a bad example._ " She smiled kindly at Hikaru, who nervously returned the smile, not understanding anything.

" _Yes, of course_ ," Dresden said in a very loud voice, gathering himself slowly up from the ground.

The woman looked at Mouse who was standing on the street, watching suspiciously toward the direction the ghouls had disappeared to. " _Mr. Dresden, you_ do _know you have to keep your dog on leash, don't you. He is such a gentle one, I know, but still._ "

" _I will, Mrs. Spunkelcrief. Good day to you_."

" _Oh no, no need for that, thank you._ " She smiled at him sweetly. " _Do take care of yourself now._ "

Dresden just nodded and returned her smile, and she went her way. Dresden's smile died away and turned into a grimace as he walked to his door, a little gingerly.

"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah." He stopped at the door, stood a moment with his eyes closed, let then out a breath and stepped inside. "Just peachy." He walked to his couch, sank down on it and drew his phone to him.

"Who are you calling to?" Hikaru asked, coming in after him.

"Murphy," Dresden answered. "I can't be watching you, but you need protection."

"Are you sure cops can help?" Hikaru didn't sound convinced. "I mean… can they fight those things?"

"Enough bullets _can_ stop them," Dresden said, but laid down the receiver nevertheless. "But I think I got an idea. I got to think about this." He stood up with a grunt and walked to the trapdoor. "This time, _both_ of you wait here," he said as he went down.

He went down. Sai and Hikaru sat a moment in silence. Then Sai glanced at the boy.

_Hikaru… I know this might sound strange, but… how about a round of blind speed go?_

Hikaru blinked. "Seriously. Mom and dad have disappeared and we've just been attacked by a pair monsters, and you want to play go?"

 _Well… I just thought that it might help you to calm down. I know it would help me! And besides,_ Sai added, looking a little forlorn, _we've not played soon for_ two days _!_

Hikaru leaned back and heaved out a sigh, closing his eyes. "Yeah, I guess. Okay. 4-4."

Sai's face broke into a grin, and the game was on.

Their timing was good, for they were already in endgame when Dresden came back up. Neither the boy nor the ghost noticed him, though, and he sat down to wait for them.

"Playing go?" he asked, when they were finished, and they both gave a start. "Who won?"

Hikaru grimaced. "Sai. As usual. But I'll beat him yet. In an even game."

Sai smiled brightly. _You still have a long way to go – but you're on the right path. That_ tsuke _you played was ingenious, you caught me by surprise there!_

"Yeah, that was good, wasn't it?" Hikaru grinned. "Almost worked, too! Do you think I should have…"

Dresden cleared his throat, and the boy fell silent, his grin fading away. "Sorry to remind you of reality, but there isn't really time for this now… you can talk of your game later. Now, take this." He gave the boy a thin silver bracelet. "It will disrupt tracking spells, in case those ghouls really were after you. I've got its pair with me, so _I_ can find you if needs be."

"Okay…" Hikaru slipped the bracelet round his wrist.

"I've got to make a couple of quick calls… first to Murphy, she'll have my head if I don't keep her updated. If she wants to send someone to your protection, I'm not telling her not to. Though I've got some plans of my own." He made the call, and after it another, while Hikaru and Sai waited in silence, understanding just a word here and another there.

"Okay." Having finished, Dresden grasped a piece of paper and a pen. "You're not going back to the hotel anymore. _No_ , we're not having a discussion about this. Someone will go to get your stuff from there, think what you need and make a list. I've got a safe place in mind for you – and a spare one, in fact, if authorities don't accept the first one. Murphy's arranging that. And, I'll give you Murphy's number. Call her if anything happens."

"Does she speak Japanese too?" Hikaru asked, and Dresden paused, pen already touching the paper.

"Damn, I keep on forgetting…" He shook his head and scribbled down the number. "Call her in any case. Maybe there's someone who knows Japanese around. At least she'll know you need help. And give me your number too in case I need to reach you."

After they had exchanged the phone numbers, the man got up and started packing a backpack. Hikaru was fingering his new bracelet, but Sai watched him curiously as he stuffed a bag of dog food into it.

"Okay, let's go."

Hikaru looked up. "What if there's more ghouls waiting for us…?"

"Tough for them." Dresden grinned, a peculiarly wolfy look. "I'm prepared." He whistled at Mouse. "C'mon, Chewbacca. I'm assigning you guard duty. Mouse is coming with you," he said to Hikaru.

Hikaru gave him a questioning look. "Do they allow dogs where we're going…?"

"The place I've in mind definitely does," the man said, digging something out of a drawer. "Besides, I've got this."

"What is that?" Hikaru asked, as he stuffed the orange thing into the bag.

"A service dog apron," Dresden said. "Helps to get him to no-dogs places."

"Umm… why do you have… a service dog?"

Dresden shrugged and patted Mouse. "I've been told I'm diplomatically challenged. Mouse helps me out. Nothing's more diplomatic than a cute dog."

Mouse gave him a sideward look and then turned away with snort.

They left the apartment, Sai and Hikaru quite hesitantly, both of them shooting worried glances across the street. There was nothing out of the ordinary in view, though. Even the ghoul arm had disappeared from the street. Mouse took over the backseat of the car, moving a little to make room for Sai and then lowering his head on the ghost's lap. Sai buried his fingers into the thick fur of the dog, trying to calm down. He still didn't know where they were going to, but a safe place sounded good. He just wasn't quite sure if such a place really did exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tyyypos. “Dresden’s man died away.” Just, what? Something going on in this story I’m not aware of? xD (It was supposed to be smile.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An even shorter chapter, and this time with no action whatsoever... well. This feels kind of like an interlude, or something. A little moment of quiet before things start happening again. I just wanted to end this chapter where it ends... Next one will be longer, I can promise you that. And as the chapter's shorter you're getting it faster. Not all bad, right?

**Chapter 5**

The car came to a stop in front of a white picket fence in a quite pleasant and expensive looking residential neighborhood. They got out, and Sai gave the house behind the fence a long look. This… wasn't exactly what he had been expecting from a safe harbor strong enough to defend them against such creatures as they had just seen. The wooden house brought to Sai's mind the houses from the period drama Hikaru's mother liked to watch, painted in ivory and burgundy, with elegant trim.

They walked in trough the gate. The front yard was covered with green grass, here and there were a few shady trees and well-kept shrubs. Arriving to the front door, Dresden rang the doorbell. In a moment the door was opened by a large man, shorter than Dresden but still tall, and more muscular, with dark hair streaked with grey. A smile appeared on his face as he saw them, spreading to his grey eyes, and Sai took an instant liking to him.

"Harry," he said warmly, grasping Dresden's hand, and nodded then to Hikaru, gesturing invitingly with his hand. " _Do come in_."

Hikaru stepped in, and Sai followed him – or tried to. It was as if he had hit a solid wall, a wall that _hit him back_ , so that he staggered a few steps back to the yard.

"Sai?" Hikaru spun around to look at him with startled eyes. "What happened?"

" _The ghost_ ," Dresden said, and an understanding look spread on the other man's face.

" _Oh, I'm sorry. I should have been more specific. Please enter, you are both warmly welcome in my home._ "

Sai didn't quite understand what he said, but he felt a change in the threatening force in front of him, and approached again, very carefully.

"It's alright, just come in," Dresden said. "You've been invited."

Sai stepped in feeling a slight tickling sensation, but that was all.

"What was that?" Hikaru asked.

"The threshold. It's a… field of energy that separates a home from the outside world. You know how vampires need an invitation before they can enter? Same thing."

"But Sai came to your place without any trouble…"

"I invited you both in right away. Besides, my threshold is nothing compared to this. A rental apartment where I live alone, compared to a real home with several children… the threshold this place has is more solid than the Great Wall of China."

Their host was watching them with raised eyebrows. " _Harry, when did you learn Japanese?_ " he asked, and Dresden visibly cringed.

" _It's complicated_ ," he just muttered, and turned to Hikaru. "This is my friend, Michael Carpenter," he said. "You'll be staying here at least for the next few days. _This is Hikaru Shindou, and his invisible companion Fujiwara no Sai,_ " he said to Michael.

The man nodded at the boy. " _Welcome_ ," he said. " _We are happy to give you whatever aid we can, until this unfortunate business is solved._ "

Dresden translated, and Hikaru gave a bow. " _Thank you…_ " he said, and seemed to want to say more, but couldn't find the words in English. Possibly not in Japanese, either.

A woman had appeared behind Michael, dressed in worn, comfortable looking clothes but still managing to look stylish and beautiful, the effect partly ruined by the stern, frowning look she had as she watched the newcomers. Her golden hair was tied in bun on the back of her head, and judging by the size of the bun, she had to have quite a lot of it.

" _My wife, Charity_ ," Michael said.

Hikaru gave another bow. " _Thank you to… for…_ letting me come," he finished in Japanese, which Dresden translated.

Charity gave the man a curious look that echoed the one her husband had given him a moment earlier, though a little sharper. Then she turned to Hikaru and her stern expression softened into a smile.

" _Welcome,_ " she too said. " _Please, come in and don't just stand there._ " She gestured with her hand and led them to the living room.

Sai paused at the door, startled to see three children in there. The youngest, a boy who couldn't be over five years old, bounced to his feet at the first sight of Mouse and rushed to the dog, shrieking happily. He was followed by a little girl, maybe a year or two older. The oldest of the three, a girl not over ten years, looked up from her book. She didn't join the younger children who seemed to be trying to ride on the dog, but lowered her book and smiled at the sight.

"That's my little namesake, Harry," Dresden said pointing at the boy. "And that's Hobbit…"

"Hope!" the girl who had managed to drag herself on Mouse's back exclaimed in a bright voice, glaring at Dresden.

"Right, Hobbit. And Amada on the couch. The three youngest of the Carpenter children."

 _Three youngest?_ Sai blinked.

"Umm… Sai is asking how many children they've got?" Hikaru said.

Dresden seemed to pause to count. "Seven," he said then.

Sai shook his head, disbelieving. _And this is where we are hiding from the ghouls? Among so many children?_

Hikaru repeated his words aloud.

"Well, yes," Dresden replied. "This is one of the safest places I can think of. _The ghost is worried about drawing the bad guys to a family with children,_ " he said then in English.

" _I am happy_ someone _is giving that some thought,_ " Charity muttered, a little sharply.

" _We all are,_ " Michael said softly. " _Please assure them everything is quite alright._ "

Dresden seemed to hesitate himself. " _I did consider taking them to Forthill,_ " he said.

Michael was shaking his head. " _No. They would be safe from anything unnatural at the church, but Father Forthill could do little in the case of mortal attackers. We can defend them from both._ "

Dresden nodded, though he didn't seem happy about it, and translated to Hikaru and Sai.

The doorbell rang. This time Charity went to open, and soon returned with four other people: Mitchell from the consulate, Tomoko Hart, and two other police officers, male and female.

"Sergeant Murphy," Dresden introduced the female officer to them. Sai looked at her with some surprise. She was blond, short, and simply too cute to be taken seriously as a police officer – or so he thought, until he caught the sharp look of her blue eyes, as she was eyeing Hikaru evaluatingly. "Henry Rawlins," Dresden said of the man, but Sai was too focused on Murphy to pay him much attention.

After introductions were done, Mitchell turned to Hikaru. "Shindou-kun," she said, disapproval clear in her voice. "I have been trying to reach you the whole day. You weren't supposed to leave the hotel."

"Oh? You didn't say that." _Actually, Hikaru, I think she did,_ Sai whispered to the boy who shrugged. "I'm sorry. I… forgot to charge my phone." In truth he had kept it turned off in Dresden's presence.

The woman sighed. "Well, no harm done, in the end. But this arrangement…" she shot a glance across the room, "is quite unusual. There are other places where you could stay at, with Japanese speaking people. This…"

"But I want to stay here!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Why can't I?"

"You can't even communicate with these people! If anything happens…"

"I'm sure all will go fine," Dresden put in. "Please, Mitchell-san, take a seat and let's talk about this."

Mitchell gave him a surprised look, apparently not having expected to hear Japanese from him. Then she nodded, and all the adults sat down. Hikaru listened to their discussion a moment, but as he understood nearly nothing he soon turned his back to them. He sat down on the floor, next to Mouse who was lying on his side, still being overrun by the two smallest children. Now Amanda too had joined her siblings and was rubbing the dog's belly.

Amanda smiled up at him. She was a pretty girl, with curly blond hair and a red, frilly dress. " _Hi! What's your name?_ "

"Hikaru," Hikaru replied. That much he could understand.

" _I'm Amanda_ ," Amanda said. " _Though Dresden told you that already._ " She leaned over the dog to whisper to him, " _Is it true you have a ghost with you?_ " The smaller children stopped immediately their play with the dog, and Hikaru had their unwavering attention. Too bad he hadn't understood the question.

" _Umm… what? Sorry, I… I don't… understand?_ "

" _Ghost!_ " Amanda whispered fervently. Hope stood up and raised her hands up, and gave a wailing sound that was probably meant to imitate a howling ghost.

 _I think they're asking about me_ , Sai said.

Hikaru was quiet for a long moment, and Sai knew what he was thinking. Was it really smart to let little children know about these things? Finally the boy nodded. " _His name is Sai_. _But…_ " he raised his finger on his lips and made a hushing sound.

Amanda nodded smartly. " _It's a secret. Don't worry, we can keep secrets. Right?_ " she gave a very stern look at her younger siblings who were nodding eagerly.

The matter settled, Amanda jumped to her feet and grasped his hand. " _Come!_ _I'll show you the house. I'll show him the house!_ " she called to the grownups too, and dragged Hikaru out of the room with her.

" _Here's the kitchen. If you get hungry you can come to make a sandwich but clean after yourself or mom will get mad. There's fruits there, you can have those too if you want. And then, here…_ " she grasped Hikaru's hand again. " _Here's the downstairs toilet and bathroom._ "

Hikaru nodded. He didn't really understand anything the girl was babbling, but, as he whispered to Sai, it was always good to locate a toilet.

" _Let's go up!_ " And up they went. She led him to a room with a bunk bed and dropped to sit on the lower bed, bouncing a little. " _This is my and Alicia's room. She's not home yet, she's playing softball._ "

Sai let his gaze wander across scattered pink clothes, dolls, stuffed animals and schoolbooks, and correctly deduced whose room this was.

" _Alicia doesn't like it when you jump on her bed_ ," Hope said from the door in a very serious voice. Amanda shot her tongue out at her and bounced once more. Then she jumped up and rushed to another room.

" _This is…_ "

" _Me and Harry's room!_ " Hope exclaimed happily. " _Look at my building blocks! You can make a real castle!_ " She settled down to a rather impressive set of wooden blocks, half built into a complicated castle structure.

" _My blocks!_ " little Harry shouted, entering the room.

" _They're both of your blocks,_ " Amanda said. " _And it's 'my and Harry's room', not 'me and Harry's'._ " No one was paying her any attention, and with a deep sigh she turned away. " _There's Daniel's and Matthew's and Molly's rooms,_ " she said with a wave of her hand. " _And mom and dad's room. But this,_ " she spun around with a raised finger, " _now, this is important. Understand? Im-por-tant._ "

Hikaru blinked. Followed the girl's finger when she pointed toward what appeared to be a door to a closet, next to the master bedroom. Hikaru looked at the door, then at the girl, and raised his eyebrows. She looked quite smug.

She opened the door to a linen closet and gestured to Hikaru to follow. The boy did, though not without sharing a very skeptic look with Sai. Amanda led them to the back wall of the closet, and then she placed her hand against the wall, glanced back to check that Hikaru was following her closely, and pushed. The panel slid aside, and revealed a hidden room.

"Wow." Hikaru stepped in after Amanda, who had turned on the light. Sai followed them, curious. The room was small, but big enough for the whole family to fit in with some comfort. There were water canisters, canned food, mattresses, even some books.

" _Panic room_ ," Amanda said very seriously. Hikaru blinked at her. " _Safe_ ," she said with emphasis.

There were steps in the corridor, and a worried look passed over the girl's face. Then Dresden peeked into the closet.

" _There you are! Showing him the important places, huh?_ "

Amanda nodded, and all the children left the room. She closed it carefully after her. Sai gave the wall a good look, and didn't see any sign of a potential door.

"So that's a… safe room?" Hikaru asked.

Dresden nodded. "Yep. Get in there at any sign of trouble. Follow the kids, even the smallest ones know what to do."

"So how safe is it?" Hikaru asked, eyeing the closet's back wall thoughtfully.

"Safe enough." Dresden smiled, a little wryly. "Angelic protection."

"What?" Hikaru looked at him with wide eyes. "Angelic? You mean… as in…"

"Exactly. As far as I know, one of the archangels was involved. That room isn't easily found by anything that's not supposed to find it."

"Archangel?" Hikaru remained standing where he was, as if frozen.

"Yes." Dresden seemed to consider a moment and went then on, in low voice, "Michael is a Knight of the Cross. Real one. There's only two of them in the entire world at the moment." He gave the boy a look. "So they are not entirely unused in this house to dark things going bump in the night."

Hikaru stared long at the man. Then he looked at the children standing in the corridor. Hope gave him a bright smile. She was holding one of the blocks in her hand. " _Come build with me?_ " she asked happily.

Dresden shook his head. " _Not yet. The guests are leaving, he has to go to say goodbye to them._ "

" _And after that play?_ "

"She wants you to come to play with her with the blocks," Dresden told Hikaru as they went down.

The boy gave a little smile and nodded. "Fine for me."

" _Yes!_ " Hope gave a happy shout. " _I'll wait there!_ " she rushed back up.

Mitchell and the police officers were waiting at the front door. "Well, Shindou-kun," she said, face impassive but disapproval evident in her voice. "We have reached an agreement. You can stay here for now, if you really want to."

"Yes!" Hikaru exclaimed. He placed a hand Mouse's shoulder as the dog sat down next to him and hugged the dog close to himself. "Thank you."

The woman nodded. "I am still not quite certain if this is the best place for you, but it's certainly better than the hotel."

Tomoko nodded. "I think this is good. Good to have other children with him. And the dog." She smiled at the way Hikaru was fondling the dog.

The two women left. Murphy and Rawlins remained a little longer.

" _He has my phone number?_ " Murphy asked, eyeing Hikaru. " _Tell him to call me at any time, if need be_ ," she went on as Dresden nodded. " _Tell him to say where he is, if he just knows it, and 'help' if he needs immediate help. We'll come._ "

Dresden translated this, and the boy nodded. Murphy gave the man a long look.

" _Since when do you speak Japanese, anyway?_ " She sighed as Dresden just shrugged, looking ill at ease. " _Whatever. Let me know of any new developments. And I_ mean _that, Dresden._ " One more sharp look, and she and Rawlins said goodbye as well and went their way.

"Time for me to go too," Dresden said to Hikaru, and Sai could feel the nervousness stirring up inside the boy. It had been an eventful day, and Hikaru had gone from rather skeptic to counting on this man's protection more strongly than Sai had even guessed. Still the boy just nodded.

"Thanks for everything," he said quietly.

"I'll let you know if and when I find out something new. Oh, and," Dresden had already been about to go but turned yet back. "Molly, their eldest, is my apprentice. She should be coming home soon, she was out with her friends. Now – she's just started to learn this stuff and she'll never be great with things that go _boom_ , but she's got knack for the more delicate stuff. And she's got the Sight, so listen to her if she thinks something's dangerous."

"Things that go _boom_ ," Hikaru muttered, amused despite himself.

Dresden grinned at him. "Yeah. She does the subtle part, me the quick to anger part." As the boy just stared at him, not understanding, he rolled his eyes. "Don't you have Tolkien in Japan? Seriously."

He had still a few words with Michael, and then the wizard too left.

Hikaru looked after him a little forlornly. Sai placed a hand on his shoulder. _Best this way, so that we're out of the way so he can do his job_.

Another hand settled on Hikaru's other shoulder, above Sai's, and the boy looked up, surprised. Michael smiled down at him, squeezing his shoulder a bit. " _It's alright,_ " he said slowly. " _Harry is a good man. He will help_."

Hikaru said nothing but nodded, very slightly. Then he glanced up. "Hope?" he said quietly, pointing up, and after Michael's nod headed back there to join the girl in her castle building.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Later in the evening Hikaru was lying on the bed Charity had made for him in a little guest room, which from the looks of it normally served as her sewing room, alone except for Sai. The youngest of the Carpenter children had taken a strong liking to him, and such things as language barriers didn't really matter to them. Hikaru was a little exhausted after being subjected to hours of their constant incomprehensible babbling. ( _This is not bad, Hikaru! A few days more and you might actually start learning this language!_ ) Overall, Sai did suspect that the boy enjoyed the children's company more than he admitted.

Nevertheless, Hikaru had been quite relieved when their mother had finally sent the smallest children to bed. He'd tried hanging around with Matthew and Daniel after that, but although they a) were boys, and b) closest to Hikaru's age, they were strangely enough the ones he had most trouble to connect with, and soon he had retreated to his room.

At least the children had quite efficiently kept him from thinking about any other things. Now, in the quiet of their room, all those thoughts surfaced again. A little while ago Hikaru's grandfather had again called from Japan, and that discussion had left the boy even more emotionally exhausted than he had been before.

"I wonder what he's doing," Hikaru muttered aloud, staring at the ceiling. Sai didn't need to ask who he meant.

 _His best, I'm sure_ , the ghost replied. _I know waiting is difficult, but that's all we can do now._

Hikaru sighed. "I know. It's just driving me crazy." He sat up. A little earlier someone had brought him what he had asked for from the hotel: some clothes and his travel go board. It was sitting on the table in the room, next to the sewing machine, and now Hikaru's eyes paused on it. At the moment neither of them felt like playing. Sai did consider it, still, thinking about playing long into the night in the hopes that it might help Hikaru to catch some sleep.

 _Perhaps_ … he started to say, but a soft knock on the door cut him off.

" _Yes?_ " Hikaru said.

The door opened. A young woman, just barely over the threshold of adulthood, peeked in. Her hair, cut to reach just below her chin, hang sky blue on one side of her face, bubblegum pink on the other side. She wore strong make-up, and Sai couldn’t help noticing the tiny metallic dot on the side of her nose, realizing a little belatedly it was a piercing. And, he noted on closer scrutiny, also her lip and right eyebrow were pierced, though she wasn’t currently wearing any rings. Her skirt was black and tight, ending at half-thigh, and under it she had torn fishnet tights. The worn orange cardigan she was wearing didn’t really appear to fit the rest of her outfit.

She stepped into the room. " _Hi! Or, uh… hajimemashite. Watashi wa Molly desu. Dresden no…er, Dresden-san no…_ " she paused, glanced down at the book in her hands. " _Uchideshi…? …desu._ "

"Oh." Hikaru's mouth formed a perfect 'o'. Then he jumped up, all excited. "Hello! I'm Shindou Hikaru! Great to meet you! Have you heard anything from Dresden? Has he found something new?"

Molly stared at him a moment, blinked then. "Oh. Umm." She looked down at her book, then showed it to Hikaru smiling apologetically. English-Japanese-English dictionary. " _Sumimasen_. _Watashi wa… nihongo…_ " She paused, licked her lips. " _I don't really speak Japanese,_ " she said then in English. " _Just, very, very, very little. Chotto._ " She held her thumb and index finger very close to each other.

"Oh." Hikaru sat down on his bed, disappointed. "Well. Nice to meet you, anyway."

" _Mind if I come in?_ " Without waiting for a reply she stepped in and closed the door behind herself. She sat down on the chair by the table, giving the go board a short look. " _I heard of your parents_ ," she said very slowly. " _I want to help._ "

Hikaru nodded. " _Thank you. You… you know…_ " The boy shot a frustrated glance at Sai. "Sai, help me!"

_What are you trying to say?_

Molly followed Hikaru's gaze. Sai blinked at the bright flash of light – he was getting tired of that, really. He looked at the girl who had frozen on her seat, staring at him with her mouth a little open. He bowed. _Hello. I'm Fujiwara no Sai._

Molly blinked. Jumped to her feet and bowed too, repeating her introduction, stumbling a bit over _hajimemashite_.

Sai smiled. _She looks weird, but at least she is polite_ , he said to Hikaru.

The boy made a noncommittal sound. "So, help me here, Sai. How do I ask if she knows what Dresden's up to?"

Sai frowned. _Do you know…_ he started in English, and his frown deepened, _what Dresden do? Does? …is doing?_ He glanced at Hikaru. _Something like that, maybe?_

Molly sank back to sit on her chair. "You _speak English?_ " she sounded positively astonished. " _Uh, no, I'm sorry. I've not heard from him. But can you tell me details of what happened? So I could try to figure something out, too._ "

Hikaru and Sai both gave her an uncomprehending look. She ran her fingers through her hair. " _This isn't going to be easy,_ " she muttered, and opened her dictionary.

It wasn't easy, but with more patience than Sai would have believed Hikaru possessed, they were in the end able to explain all that had happened to Molly. It took long into the night, long enough that Charity came to ask them if they shouldn't finally be going to sleep.

Molly shook her head, her attention on her dictionary. Her mother said something sharp, and her reply was even sharper. Sai winced. He could nearly feel the tension in the air between the mother and daughter, and he started to wonder about Molly's appearance from a completely new perspective.

Charity left, but not before saying something that sounded like a strict command. Molly stared at the book a little longer, closed it then, and sighed. "Maybe… sleep?" she said in Japanese.

Hikaru nodded, and Sai too. He could feel the boy's exhaustion. _Thank you_ , he said, and Hikaru nodded too. "Thanks."

Molly was shaking her head. " _I've not done anything yet. But… I'll try. I'll help._ " She stood up and smiled at the boy who was sitting at the edge of his bed, eyes tired and blank. She patted softly his shoulder. " _I_ will _help. Good night. Oyasumi._ "

She left. Sai turned to Hikaru and sat down next to him. _We are lucky to have so many people willing to help us_ , he said. _Surely all these people will be able to find your parents._

"Maybe," Hikaru said with a great sigh and fell down on the bed. It didn't take long before he was asleep.

Sai remained sitting by the window, watching the quiet night sky. He did not need sleep the way the living did, though he usually did rest during nighttime. Hikaru had not slept well since his parents disappeared, and consequently he had not got much rest during the past nights either, but now, now that Hikaru for once was sleeping tightly, he thought he too might be able to close his eyes for a moment.

Not yet, though. It was no wonder that Hikaru was sleeping. He had doubted when the onmyouji had brought them to this place, but now he understood well they couldn't find a safer place within this city. The peace of the sleeping house was almost tangible. Here, he could _believe_ things would work out, that one way or another everything would turn out well in the end. He let that calming peace envelop himself, and, eyes fixed on the thin crescent moon on the dark sky, his hands found his flute in the folds of his clothes, and softly he began [playing a tune](https://youtu.be/_0Rmhd5iwMk) from his living days at Heian-kyo, the Capital of Peace and Tranquility.

The long, wailing notes floating in the night, he could remember those days – and nights – so clearly. It was difficult to imagine that a thousand years truly had passed, that the world which was much more familiar to him than this era of technology and progress could ever be, existed now only in dusty history books and slightly ridiculous (not to mention inaccurate) periodical dramas – and in his memories. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and something burned in his eyes. That very same moon shone upon them, when he sat with his friends in his father's garden, playing this tune, and his friends had joined in with their _koto_ and _biwa_ … That time had passed, as all times of men would, but still, looking up at that lone star, he felt like he could return there now, if only for a short while.

He was so far away in time and space that it took him a long while to realize there was a new presence in the room. He paused from his playing and looked over his shoulder. Molly was standing there in the doorway, her dictionary under her arm, watching him with her mouth slightly open.

A moment they just stared at each other. " _I… I'm sorry_ ," she said then quietly. " _Eh, sumimasen. That was, uh, beautiful. In a… very weird way. I didn't want to disturb you…_ "

Sai blinked, uncertain of what she had said, except for the apology. He nodded his head a bit. _It's okay. I… wake you?_

" _No_ ," Molly said with a laugh. " _I wasn't sleeping. I've been thinking. There's something I need to talk with you about. Now. I know it's late, but…_ We need talk," she finished in Japanese.

Sai glanced at Hikaru. The boy was sleeping soundly. _In morning?_ he asked Molly.

" _No._ " The girl shook her head and closed the door behind her. " _That might be too late. Now._ "

Hikaru twitched on his bed. "Sai?" he mumbled quietly. "What is it?"

Sai looked at him, displeased. The peace of the night was slipping away. _You should sleep on, Hikaru_ , he said, but boy blinked his eyes open and saw Molly. He sat up on his bed.

"Molly? What's going on?"

" _I've been thinking_ ," the girl said, sitting down on the floor, now in ripped jeans and a tank top from under which circled intricate tattoos. She had washed her face and seemed much younger without her makeup. " _I need to see that place in the Undertown._ I… want see magic place. _Undertown,_ " she attempted to explain half in Japanese.

Hikaru and Sai shared a look. _Good idea?_ Sai asked in English. He knew it was not. _Danger._

" _Yes, but… I have to. Harry said… the residual magic, right?_ "

Sai nodded. They had worked out that term in English.

" _I want to see it. It's possible I might…_ " She paused, a little exasperated, looking for simple words. " _Me and Harry, we are different. Maybe I see something he did not see, understand?_ " she said then.

Sai nodded, hesitantly. Hikaru was frowning. "She… wants to go there to see if she can spot something Dresden didn't?" he asked Sai who nodded.

_I think so. But I don't think it's a good idea. Dresden didn't find anything useful there._

"But what if he was missed something? He did say Molly is better with the subtle, delicate things."

 _I don't know._ Sai shifted, worried. He didn't like where this was going to. He looked at Molly. _You… you not… find? Alone. Need we. …us._

" _True_." Molly nodded. " _I'd need you to guide me there…_ "

 _Ask Dresden?_ Sai suggested. _He take you there._

" _I tried to call him. No answer._ "

"He's not home?" Hikaru was now wide awake, turning his sharp eyes to Sai. "If he's not home, how can we contact him? I mean, he doesn't even have a cell phone, we'd just have to wait for _him_ to contact us. And he also said that the residual magic might be gone by next sunrise. Tomorrow might be too late."

Sai was shaking his head. _It's too dangerous._

"You keep on saying that!" Hikaru cut him off in fervent whisper. " _Every_ thing's _always_ too dangerous! But honestly, if we had just returned to the hotel and not followed Dresden yesterday, the ghouls would have gotten us when they came. And nothing bad happened when you went down to his cellar either, right? You're too much of a scaredy-cat, Sai!"

Sai was quite willing to be called that, as long as Hikaru stayed in this safe haven. _Too much danger,_ he said in English, stubborn. Hikaru groaned.

" _It_ is _dangerous_ ," Molly agreed, nodding. "But _if we are careful, and if I veil us… it should be alright_."

 _Veil?_ Sai asked, frowning. He didn't know that word.

" _Veil is… this_ ," Molly said with a smile, and disappeared.

Sai and Hikaru both let out surprised gasps. They heard the girl's laughter. " _Pretty good, isn't it? This is what I_ really _can do._ " She appeared again, sitting where she had been. " _So, what do you think? I can do that. I can…hide us. No one can see us_. _Safe?_ "

Hikaru was nodding. "That was great! Sai, did you see? I mean, not see? That is, wow. If no one can see us, then how could they attack us?"

 _The monsters… not see?_ Sai asked hesitantly.

Molly nodded. " _Only a really strong wizard can see through my veils._ "

"We have to do this!" Hikaru exclaimed, locking his eyes on Sai. It was the ghost's turn to groan.

_I still don't think it's a good idea! If something goes wrong, if we are attacked… she can't save us! Dresden did say…_

"…that she's not good with things that go boom, I know," Hikaru finished. "But Sai… what if there is some key to this in that hall? It's the only clue we've got!"

Sai was still shaking his head, but he had to admit the boy had a point. _If we talk with Michael_ …

" _No,_ " Molly said, hearing her father's name. " _He won't let us go there. I know. He's my_ father _. He thinks I'm still just his little girl._ "

Sai didn't really understand what she said, but he did understand the strength of Molly's _no_. He bit his lip. _Take_ _Mouse?_ he suggested. Molly hesitated.

" _I'm not sure… Mouse might not let us go either. He's very… protective. Besides, the fewer I've got to veil, the easier it's for me_. _Er, not many people, good. Easy to veil._ "

Hikaru nodded. "Let's go."

 _Now?_ Sai was startled. _Hikaru, it's in the middle of the night!_

"That's the point!" the boy exclaimed, and Molly made a quick hushing noise. "Just think, when the sun rises, whatever might be left there, will be gone."

Sai was still shaking his head, and the boy locked his pleading eyes on him. "I have to, Sai. I can't just wait here. If we don't go there now, I might wonder the rest of my life if it would have made a difference."

Sai gave the boy a long look and gave a deep sigh. _I do understand, Hikaru. But I can't let you go there, alone. It's much too…_

 _I'm not alone, Sai!_ Hikaru exclaimed in his mind. _Molly will be there! You will be there! It's going to be fine. And even if it isn't…_ There was again that defiant raise of chin Sai knew all too well. _That doesn't matter. I'm going there cause I have to, and you can't stop me!_

Not quite true, Sai thought to himself, but in the end he closed his eyes and nodded. _I really don't think we should be doing this. But fine. Let's go._

Molly nodded. " _Okay. I'll veil us when we leave. Be really, really quiet. Mouse is our greatest danger on the way out. His got sharp ears, even if he's sleeping. I'll try to veil our sounds too, but just in case. Quiet. Shizuka-ni._ "

Hikaru nodded. Molly waited outside as he quickly dressed up, and after that they tiptoed downstairs. Sai thought of Dresden saying that the dog was smarter than most people, and smiled sadly at himself. Apparently that was true at least in the case of the three of them.

They slipped out and left the sleeping house behind. Looking up at the moon, Sai wondered briefly what time it was. He really had hoped Hikaru would have slept better tonight, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. He shot yet one look behind at the dark house. It wasn't yet too late to stop them, to call for Mouse, alert the dog and so the house. He knew he should have done that, but… looking at Hikaru, he wasn't sure if the boy would ever forgive him. Especially if everything did not turn out well in the end.

They took a bus, Molly dropping the veil for that time. _We could have ridden free_ , Hikaru thought to Sai, who rolled his eyes. _And jumped on the bus while it drove by, you mean?_ he replied. They arrived to that bus stop where Hikaru had once been supposed to take the bus to the hotel, and got off. As soon as they were out of sight of people, Molly veiled them again.

They found the entrance to the corridor, and saw that no one had yet fixed the lock. They entered the darkness.

Molly took a small flashlight out of her pocket. " _This'll be tricky_ ," she muttered. " _Okay. Listen. I'll keep the light pointed downward, at our feet. Like this._ " She demonstrated, turning the light on and pointing it at her own feet. " _That's how it's simpler for me to veil it too from outsiders._ "

Hikaru nodded, looking a little uncertain. Sai too peered into the dark corridor with growing apprehension. Maybe he should just say he didn't remember the way to the hall anymore…?

" _Come. We need to stay together._ " Molly grasped the boy's hand and started walking.

Hikaru stumbled after her, grasping her hand tightly. After a short hesitation Sai guided them on, hoping he still _did_ remember the right way. Straight, straight, left, straight, right… Finally, just as he was getting certain they had missed some turn, they arrived to the hall.

Molly paused, stood there in silence. "Well?" Hikaru asked after a while.

"Shh," she said. " _Give me a moment. Wait. I need to concentrate. There is still something here, but it's very weak._ " She let go of the boy's hand. " _Wait. I check the place, don't move from here. You won't see me or my light when I leave you, understand? …I go, you won't see light. But it's okay._ "

Hikaru didn't understand much more than 'wait' and 'okay' out of all that. He nodded. "Okay." Then he gave a flinch when Molly and her light suddenly disappeared, but Sai placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

Sai stayed very close to the boy as they waited. He was increasingly convinced that this had been a bad idea, but decided it was too late to get second thoughts now. They were here, just as well for Molly to check out the place. But he did wish the girl would hurry. He was twitchy, with overwhelming certainty that something bad was about to happen at any moment, and it took all he had to stand still and not to start dragging Hikaru out of this place.

After a while he couldn't take it anymore. _Hikaru, we have to go_ , he said in a tight voice. He heard the boy shifting next to him.

_Sai…_

_We have to go, Hikaru! We should never have come here to begin with!_ He couldn't keep the panic from creeping into his voice, and the boy swallowed, feeling his emotions.

"Molly?" Hikaru called out softly, but there was no reply. "Molly!" he shouted, a little louder. Still no reply, not even an echo. _Where is she?_ he thought to Sai, now beginning to panic as well.

 _I don't know! I can't see… oh gods, why did I let you come here, why…_ Sai took a few steps forward, straining to see in the dark, but it seemed to him the place was even darker than in the first time. Then he had at least been able to see some outlines. Now, there was nothing, just vast emptiness, completely void of light and sound.

He stood there, despairing in the dark, when something wrenched inside of him. Feeling almost physical pain, Sai gasped, fell onto his knees. _Hikaru…!_

He looked over his shoulder, tears in his eyes. Nothing moved in the dark. _Hikaru…?_

The boy didn't reply. Sai stumbled up, panic swelling inside of him. He rushed to the place where he had left Hikaru, but there was no one there. _Hikaru, answer me!_

The silence was deafening. The hall was empty – as empty as Sai felt inside. Sai collapsed again on the ground, unable to do more than sob for the pain. His connection to the boy was severed. 

⋆

It took a long while from the distraught ghost be able to gather himself up again. Once he did, he searched through the hall over and over again but couldn't find anything, any sign of either Molly or Hikaru. Finally he gave up and started making his way back to the ground, but he had lost his sense of direction in the dark, and wasn't even sure if he had started following the correct corridor. It was nothing short of a miracle he did not end up lost in the dark, but after having wandered about for what felt like an eternity, he finally felt something fresh in the air, and the heavy darkness seemed to lift a little. He started to run, and stumbled out of the door to the backstreet.

A moment he stood there, panting, trying to calm down. He would have to get help. Get Mouse. Michael. Dresden. Someone, anyone, who could help.

He didn't know where Dresden was, had no way to contact the _onmyouji_. Michael… couldn't see him. Mouse could, but how would the dog be able to tell others what had happened? He felt a strange tight feeling in his throat, as if not being able to breathe, and closed his eyes, trying to do those mental exercises he had used back when he was very young and nervous before an important game. Gradually it did help, and his panic lessened. He opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky. The crescent moon had traveled farther on it than he would have thought. How long had he spent, trying to find his way out? There was no more time to be wasted.

Mouse was smart. The dog would surely be able to alert Michael to the fact that something was wrong. And he could lead them here, and surely they'd be able to do something.

He headed to the bus stop, hoping the bus would come soon, but no matter how long he waited, there was no sign of one, and no one else waiting for it. With a sinking feeling he realized it was too late, the busses didn't run anymore. How would he find his way to the Carpenter house on foot?

He stared at the bus timetable, despair intensifying again. He didn't even know what time it was. He looked at the sky. Should he wait for the first bus in the morning? Or just try to find his way on his own? Maybe…

He froze. Morning. Dawn. Sunrise. He heard the skull's voice ringing in his ears.

_A spirit needs to have a sanctum to return to during daytime, or it will dissolve._

And he had just lost his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhangery? ^^ Sorry. (Or not.)
> 
> (1) _Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Molly desu. Dresden-san no uchideshi desu._ Hello, I'm Molly, Dresden's apprentice. Japanese has a bunch of words for apprentice and I've no clue which one of them would be the correct one in this context, so I just took the first one in the dictionary. It's not like Molly would know either.
> 
> Given that Molly uses (fake) Japanese for her spells (and not (fake) Latin like Harry), and as words like hentai are part of her vocabulary, I figured she might have some interest in the language.
> 
> (2) The link to the song Sai's playing leads to the flute solo version of _Etenraku_... which is official court music, so I kind of doubt he'd have been playing that, but it's the only flute piece I'm sure is from Heian period, so _Etenraku_ it is.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was still dark.

Sai comforted himself with that fact as he walked down the street as briskly as he could. He had time, surely he had time. No need to panic before there'd be the first soft glimmer of dawn in the east. Although _then_ it was probably too late to panic.

He walked on until he reached a crossing. Was this where they had turned? If only he had been paying more attention then. He hesitated, went finally left, and after a short while, seeing a park he was sure they had not passed rushed back to the crossing, heart in his throat. Maybe it was the next crossing.

It hadn't been a long drive. If he proceeded like this, keeping in mind those few spots he was sure they had passed, and always returned to the previous one if he lost his way… He sighed. If he proceeded like this, it would take him ages. But what else could he do?

He passed a building with a clock on its side. He stopped to look at it: 4:13. Now, if he only knew at what time the sun rose… That morning when he had woken Hikaru up, when the boy's parents hadn't returned during the night… it had been 7 in the morning, and he was pretty sure the sun had already risen some time ago.

So he had perhaps a couple of hours.

He rushed on through the empty streets. At times he saw people – a lone man hurrying home, someone homeless dozing in a recess, a dark figure staggering on the street after him – but he paid them little attention. Just ran on.

Until he again began to suspect he had taken a wrong turn. Sai stopped, spat out an uncharacteristic curse. He turned and started running back toward where he came from. He had no time for this.

The dark figure he had noticed on the street was still there, coming slowly toward him. At first Sai paid it no attention, but suddenly he felt a cold breath in the air which soon strengthened to a flood of freezing cold. He paused, hesitated. There was something weird in the approaching figure, in the way it glided across the ground, barely touching it, strangely graceful.

Sai blinked. He couldn't see the figure clearly, but he had a disquieting feeling that it was somehow disproportional, not quite _right_. It passed a streetlight, and Sai took a startled step back. The creature's face was skull-like, skin drawn tight across it, the eyes nothing but empty holes, mouth gaping open. Now he heard a scream from it, barely more than an ongoing gasp but still high-pitched and wailing. The creature approached him, reaching out with its hand that was made of just shreds of darkness that drifted toward Sai, and the cold feeling intensified even more.

Sai turned and run.

Never before, alive or dead, had he ran like that. He didn't waste time glancing behind – he could feel the cold following. He sped on, stumbled, crashed into a building and through it without slowing down. Finding such energy in himself he had never known he possessed he practically flew across the yards and streets and buildings, kept going until gradually the cold feeling following him started to grow more distant and in the end vanished away.

Sai stopped in the middle of a crossing, panting hard. Then he told himself to stop – he couldn't really be out breath. He straightened his back, looked behind a little fearfully. The street was empty behind him.

He let out a shivering breath. He had escaped the creature… but at what cost? He had just run on blindly, without any—

His eyes stopped on a statue in front of an old brick building, and widened. He _knew_ that one. Barely daring to believe it, he turned left after the statue, right from the next crossing, and would have cried of relief seeing a familiar street if he had not been so completely exhausted.

He had arrived to Dresden's home street. He ran on until he was standing in front of the man's apartment, hardly being able to believe his luck. Then he paused. Blinked. Groaned.

The wards. He wouldn't be able to enter the place.

He fidgeted. Swore. Thought frantically. Yes, they had driven straight from here to the Carpenters' home, but he was certain he wouldn't remember the way. And he definitely didn't have time to start searching his way there.

He groaned again, pulling his hair. This couldn't be true. So close… Just how dangerous could those wards be, really? If he tried, very carefully… he had been invited in once, hadn't he…

He didn't dare. _Blow you to Mozambique_ , Dresden had said. Exaggeration or not, he didn't like the sound of it. Sai sank to sit on the sidewalk. It was hopeless. Maybe he should just give up. Or try entering, despite the wards. Big difference, if he was anyway going to disappear at sunrise.

He had sat there a long while when he heard the sound of a car motor, but it barely registered in his mind, as he was wallowing in the depths of despair. The car stopped, a car door slammed, and now he did glance over his shoulder.

The multicolor car had stopped behind his back, and Dresden was currently staggering toward him. He jumped on his feet, eyes widening, and stepped aside before the man walked through him.

_I can't believe this!_ he exclaimed. _Where did you come from? I need your help! I've lost Hikaru, and… and… hey, hello! Do you hear me?_

Dresden walked to his door, muttered something and opened it without paying any attention to the ghost. Sai froze for a moment, then rushed after him at the last moment before he closed the door.

At least he was in now. But he still hadn't managed to get Dresden's attention.

The man walked into the room, took of his coat with a grunt of pain and threw it on a chair. He muttered a word, and fire flickered on in the fireplace. He headed to the kitchen, opened an icebox and took something out, pressing it against his left eye with another grunt. Then he sank down on his couch a leaned heavily back.

Only now the man's appearance began to register to Sai. There was blood on his shirt, and the knee of his jeans was torn and bloody as well. The fingers of the hand that held the icebag against his brow were scratched and dirty, and the way he was lying on the couch radiated an absolute exhaustion. As Sai watched, he seemed to fall asleep, and after a while the bag he had been holding on his face fell down, revealing a black eye and bloody nose.

He sighed. From the looks of it, it would be a while before he'd get any help from the wizard. Which left…

His eyes fell on the rug that covered the trapdoor. Then he glanced at the clock on the wall. Past 5 am. There was still time, but better not to waste it.

Sai floated down through the trapdoor. He wasn't overly eager to go to Bob for help, but he was running out of options. Perhaps being inside the wizard's home would be enough to protect him once the sun rose… but he wasn't willing to take chances.

He came down to the cellar and headed right away to the skull, which was still sitting on the shelf where he had first seen it. He stopped in front of it, drew a breath to compose himself, and ran a hand over his hair, hoping he wasn't overly disheveled after his frantic escape.

_Hello_ , he said when he figured he was in control of his voice. _I'm sorry to disturb you, but I find myself in the need of your help._

There was no reaction from the skull. He waited a moment and tried then again. _Hello? This is Fujiwara no Sai. Do you hear me?_

Still the skull remained silent, lifeless. Cold fear surged up in Sais's stomach. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe this was only a skull, nothing inside it. He shot a look across the room and saw no other skulls.

_Do you hear me!?_ he repeated, now shouting. _Bob! I need help!_ What if the spirit had left the skull for some reason? What if he just couldn't hear Sai? What did he know about how this skull-sanctum thing functioned.

_Help me!_ he shrieked, wanting to grasp the skull and give it a shake. _Please, you have to help me!_

"What?" an annoyed voice muttered sleepily. "The hell are you shouting 'bout, I'm trying to sleep here…"

A soft shimmer appeared in the skull's eye sockets, focused on Sai. "Oh, it's you. What's going on?"

_Thank gods you're there!_ Sai breathed out, feeling a little weak in the knees. _I need help! I've lost Hikaru and Dresden's just sleeping and Molly's gone too and soon it's morning and I've nowhere to go and you said if I don't have a sanctum I'll dissolve and I just don't know what I should do!_

The light in the skull's eyes blinked, grew then sharper. "What? Hey, calm down, I couldn't follow you. What do you mean you lost the kid?"

_I don't know! We were in Undertown, and he just disappeared! I can't feel him anymore._ Tears started running down Sai's face. _He didn't_ die _or anything, did he?_

"Undertown?" Bob asked sharply. "What the hell were you doing in Undertown, weren't you supposed to be at the Carpenters'…" He paused, and swore. "Less than an hour to sunrise. Damn. You said Harry's sleeping?"

_He just came home, that's how I got in. Fell asleep on the couch. I think he's been in a fight, he looked a little beaten up…_

"What else is new?" Bob said dryly. "Damn it," he repeated. "I guess we're out of options. Come in."

_What?_ Sai blinked, not quite understanding.

"I said come in!" Bob repeated. There was a strange pulling sensation, the world swirled in his eyes, and suddenly Sai found himself standing in a room that might have well been from the emperor's palace in Heian-kyo. He stared at the screens and the paper walls and sliding doors, the low ornate table and soft cushions, and blinked again.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but certainly not this. After a short moment he realized he wasn't alone. He turned and saw a rather ordinary (though strangely familiar) looking young man watching with an amused expression the screens depicting tigers resting by waterside. He was dressed in jeans, white shirt and a black leather jacket, looking quite out of place in this room. Not that he seemed entirely comfortable in his clothes. Sai's eyes focused on the little embroidered skull on the jacket, right above the man's heart.

"Bob?" he asked, and was startled by the sound of his own voice.

The young man turned to face him and gave a deep bow, perfectly adequate but still there was something mocking about it. "Welcome to my humble abode," he said.

"This?" Sai said, watching the beautifully painted slide doors. "This is what it's like in your skull?" He wouldn't have minded to have a place like this of his own.

"Of course not," Bob said. "This is just your mind interpreting what it sees in ways you can comprehend." He shot a look around. "A fresh take, I must admit. Or not that fresh? Kind of dated, from a thousand years ago. But," he turned back to Sai before the ghost had time to say anything, "You'd better tell me now what has happened."

Sai took a breath and started talking, telling him about Molly wanting to check out the residual magic in the Undertown, Hikaru being determined to do this, and he himself… "I should have stopped them," he said miserably. "But… it was so important to Hikaru, and I was afraid what would happen if we _didn't_ go there and later realized we could have found something there to help save his parents. I knew it was a mistake once we were there, but then it was too late."

He explained how Molly had disappeared without them even noticing, and then Hikaru after her, severing their connection."It took me so long to find my way out of there. There were no buses anymore, and then I tried to walk to the Carpenters' house but I kept on losing my way, and then I ran into… into… _something_." He shuddered at the memory.

"A wraith," Bob said when he had described the creature. "A ghost, like you, but one that has lost its purpose. They live on by eating the memories of other spirits they can catch – eating other spirits, that is, for in the end you consist of nothing but memories."

Sai shuddered again. "I can't believe I managed to escape it," he muttered. "But it made me get completely lost – except that it turned out I'd been running to this direction. I was incredibly lucky there…"

"It had nothing to do with luck. You should be able to find all places where you have been here, following the ley lines and energies of the city. Perhaps when you were escaping and not actively thinking about it, you just followed your instincts and headed toward what you knew was a safe place."

"Ley lines?" Sai asked. "Oh, never mind, that's not important. What happened to Hikaru? And to Molly," he added as an afterthought, feeling vaguely guilty of forgetting her.

"I'm not sure." Bob was rubbing his chin, forehead wrinkled in a frown. "But I have some thoughts. Don't much like them. But when people disappear without a trace, into thin air… well, there's only one thing that comes to mind right away."

Sai said nothing, as nothing came to his mind.

"Nevernever," Bob went on, quietly. "But I need to talk with Harry… though if he just came home from some fight, I'd probably need to set this place on fire to wake him." He shook his head. "Well, make yourself comfy. You probably know how to do it in this place. Didn't you guys really have any furniture?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I? Think. That's what I'm good at."

Sai nodded. Swallowed. "Okay," he said in a small voice and sniffed. "I… I'll just… wait, then. But please," he looked at Bob with tears swelling again in his eyes. "If you just can, please help Hikaru. I don't care what happens to me, but he… he's just a kid. I, I shouldn't have… why did I let him…"

He turned away and covered his face with his sleeve as he started to cry in earnest.

"You…" Bob's voice sounded strange, and he did try to control his sobbing, but that was just impossible, the mere thought of Hikaru got him started again.

"You sure are an emotional one," the other spirit finally stated dryly. He tapped Sai's shoulder. "Hey. Come here, take a look."

Sai tried to dry his eyes with his sleeve and followed him, attempting – and failing – to control his sniffing and hiccups. Then his eyes widened.

There was a go board in the corner of the room. An old one, worn in countless games, with beautifully carved legs, two bowls of stones set upon it. He knelt down by it, reached out with his hand and barely dared to breathe as he let his finger run across the board's edge. With shaking hands he took one of the bowls, feeling its weight, and opened it. Black stones.

He took one, held it between his fore and middle fingers, and started crying again.

Bob gave an exasperated sigh. "What the… That was supposed to cheer you up, not to make you cry more! Seriously, don't you do anything but cry?"

"I, I'm… I'm sorry," Sai managed to say. "It did, it is… it is wonderful. I just, I had…"

He had forgotten. He wouldn't have believed it to be possible, but apparently in a thousand years he truly had forgotten what a smooth go stone felt like in his hand.

He played it on the board, in the lower right corner on the star point, and let his hand lie on the board.

"That game really is important to you," Bob said quietly. He had sat down on the other side of the board, watching Sai thoughtfully.

"It… it was everything," Sai whispered. "All that mattered. And when they, when they took it away, I just couldn't…"

"Suicide, huh?" Bob asked. Sai said nothing, just closed his eyes. A long moment they sat there in silence.

"Want to have a game?" Bob suddenly asked, and Sai's eyes snapped wide open.

"What?"

"Want to have a game of go? …unless you're interested in some other kinds of games?" Sai did not miss his suggestive wink.

He straightened his back, attempted to look as dignified as he could, what with tear marks still on his cheeks. "Weren't you supposed to think?" he asked sharply.

"I can think when we play," Bob said with a wry smile. "What?" he went on when Sai frowned. "Ever heard of multitasking?"

Sai rolled his eyes. "A proper game of go," he said strictly, "leaves no room for thinking of other things. If we are to play, you should give it your all, and you don't have time for that now."

Bob's smile broke into a grin. "You're a real zealot, aren't you? Don't worry about it, you don't know how my mind works. Let's play. Harry's going anyway to sleep a while, and there's little we can do before he wakes."

Sai hesitated. It was tempting. His fingers rested on the edge of his stone bowl – another old, old, forgotten feeling. How wonderful it would be to play a real game again, with real stones in his hands… but then he thought of Hikaru, possibly all alone, frightened, abducted by gods knew what monsters. Thought of the games they had played, and all the games he still wanted to play with the boy – and feared he might not ever get a chance for that again.

But there was nothing he could do about that, nothing but worry. If nothing else, a game would be a way to pass time, give him something else to think about. He closed his eyes for a moment. Looked then down at the board, at the lone black stone on it. Nodded.

Bob took the other bowl, opened it, and placed a white stone on the board, and the game was on.

It was soon clear to Sai that Bob truly knew the game through and through. He followed one of the more unusual opening _joseki_ , with slight variations. Sai nodded in approval. It wouldn't do to become careless against this opponent; he didn't doubt that Bob would spot any mistake he might make immediately.

But even so… the other spirit wasn't truly a go player. His interest was purely academic, he _knew_ the game but didn't _feel_ it. To him it was just a game among all the others.

Sai's lips tightened. He would _not_ lose this game. He made his move, the first attack that wasn't in fact yet real but just diversion… what he suspected Bob well knew. The young man raised his gaze from the board with a knowing smile – a smile that faltered as he met Sai's eyes, and his hand paused above the board.

Sai met his gaze, eyes sharp, unblinking. Bob's lips parted a little, then he gave a little laugh.

"Damn," he said softly. "Damn you're disturbing."

" _I_ am disturbing?! Sai exclaimed.

"Yeah." Bob grinned at him, somewhat leerily. "Totally worth turning gay for. Or at least bi. Not going to abandon all the ladies…"

Sai closed his eyes, shook his head a little. The game. Focus on the game. He kept his eyes on the board from then on until the game had swept him away. When he next time looked up at his opponent, there were no smart comments or jibes, just a long, calculating look, evaluating his strengths and weaknesses.

He was, in fact, leading, but the game was very tight. As long as he made no mistakes, he should be able to make it. The stones snapped softly against the board, black and white in their turns, and a new plan began to formulate in his mind. If his opponent played where he thought he would on the next round, he could play _tsuke_ next, just as Hikaru had, and…

Hikaru.

Bob's stone snapped on the board exactly where Sai had thought he would play, but his own hand wavered above his stones and dropped then to his lap.

Hikaru.

Where _was_ the boy? Was he hurt? He had to be scared. What did he think, when he realized Sai wasn't there anymore? That his friend had abandoned him?

The go board grew hazy in his eyes. Where had he been planning to play? He blinked his eyes, trying to make the board to focus, but he had forgotten the plan he had had, couldn't anymore remember what that _tsuke_ would have been supposed to accomplish. He shook his head. "I have lost," he whispered, and didn't mean only the game.

"What?" Bob looked up at him in surprise. "Seriously? The game is far from finished…" He fell silent as Sai raised up his fan to cover his face. "Well." Over his fan Sai saw him wave his hand above the board, and the board and stones disappeared. "We can continue the game later, if you wish."

Sai just nodded, but said nothing.

Bob stood up. "Okay, he's had his beauty sleep. Let's see if…" He got that far when a phone rang, somewhere far away. It kept on ringing as they listened. Stopped. Then it rang again. Bob grinned. "He's gonna be _so_ happy when he answers that. Wish I could hear it…"

The phone did not ring as long this time as on the first. They both listened carefully, but heard nothing. "Well, he's got to be awake now," Bob muttered after a while. He took a deep breath. " _Boss! Get down here!_ "

Sai gave a shriek at the sound of his voice and covered his ears.

Nothing happened. Bob took another breath and Sai slammed his hands quickly back on his ears. " _BOOOOSS! Are you deaf! Harry Dresden, get your lazy ass down here!_ "

There was a moment's silence. Then Bob nodded. "Coming."

After a while something clanked. Sai waited anxiously, listening keenly. Then he heard Dresden's voice, anything but pleased. "Bob? What the hell you're screaming down here? What's on fire, bonehead?"

Sai blinked as Bob disappeared. He still heard the other spirit's voice. "Bonehead? Come now, you can do better than that, boss. Hit your head recently?"

"Yes, in fact I did. What is it? I've been out the whole night, and Michael just called, the kid and Molly went missing and I've got to…"

"I know," Bob said. "The ghost is here."

"…what?"

"Come, Sai. You can have the other eye." Again Sai felt the strange pull. It was as if he were floating upward, toward a small dot of light that gradually grew bigger, and suddenly expanded into a window to the cellar room.

Sai gasped. Dresden was standing in front of the window, staring at it with a stunned expression.

"Bob…? Your other eye… turned purple."

"I know," Bob said. "That's Sai. The ghost. He came here at the same time you returned. He has lost the boy."

"Lost the…" Dresden closed his eyes, shook his head, and then winced. "Damn…" He grasped the skull and carried it to the table, sitting down by it. Sai closed his eyes, getting a little queasy at the way the room spun.

"Okay. Tell me everything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Re: Bob's 'living quarters' in the skull: I'm not completely sure if it'd look the same no matter who sees it, as there's been only one visit in there in the books, but given what they said about the visitor interpreting what they see into familiar things, I figured it could as well vary. I'm also wondering if Bob's appearance would vary similarly as well, and was kind of tempted to give him Heian age clothing… but in the end kept that the same as in the book.
> 
> (2) My freaking typos! I swear I'm not making these up!
> 
> "He couldn't really be out of print." (Out of breath. Okay, so I work at a bookstore, so maybe I'm more used to the phrase 'out of print', or whatever.)
> 
> Sai: "I am disrobing?!" No, Sai, please don't, though I guess Bob wouldn't mind. xD (That one is partly blamed on autocorrect, I'd written disrubing.)
> 
> Btw, if you notice any mistakes, please let me know! I dare say I'm pretty good in English, but I bet I am still making mistakes. Prepositions especially are my bane…
> 
> (3) Random links:
> 
> Have you seen this? Harry Dresden version of ‘What x think/s I do’: [https://www.deviantart.com/art/Harry-Dresden-What-You-Think-289622115 ](https://www.deviantart.com/art/Harry-Dresden-What-You-Think-289622115) Quite perfect, I think. ^^
> 
> Aannnddd for those few who don’t know Hikago (hey, I know there's at least one!) and why not to others too… go is serious stuff. Sai’s game face (the vid clips are from his match against the Meijin): <https://www.flickr.com/gp/96635170@N02/0Axs0d>


	8. Chapter 8

 

Hikaru woke up with a shudder. He had had a bad dream, if not a real, proper nightmare… though he couldn't remember it well anymore. Just that it had been dark – and he had been alone. Even Sai had disappeared somewhere. He shuddered, yawned, rolled over.

"Sai, is it morning already?" he muttered quietly, groping for his blanket. He was a little chilly.

There was no reply. _Sai!_ he called again in his mind. _Tell me what time it is!_

Still nothing. Hikaru blinked his eyes open, and froze to stare at the blank white wall in front of his nose. Where was he? He had been staying at the Carpenters' house, but… he remembered the flowery tapestry of the guest/sewing room. This wasn't it.

He sat up, shot a confused look around. The room was small and empty, his bed nothing more but a mattress on the bare concrete floor. There was a small lamp on the floor next to his bed, shedding dim light into the room. His eyes stopped on another mattress, on which lied a familiar figure.

"Molly!" He jumped up, rushed to the girl. She seemed to be deep in sleep. "Molly, wake up!" He shook her, to no avail. "Sai, what's wrong with her, why doesn't she wake up?! Come on!" He slapped the girl slightly on the cheek. No reaction. _What should I do, Sai?_

He looked around.

… _Sai? Sai, where are you!_ "Answer me! Sai!"

There was no reply, no familiar feeling of another presence within the back of his mind. For a moment Hikaru just stood there, himself pale as a ghost.

" _SAI!_ " he shrieked then, his voice echoing vainly in the little room.

⋆⋆⋆

"I can't believe this mess." Dresden was leaning his head on his hands as he sat at the table, the skull in front of him. He slammed his fists on the table and glared at the skull. "What the hell were you thinking?! I can understand kids doing something stupid like that – even Molly, _especially_ Molly, she just doesn't have any idea of her limits, but you? Aren't you supposed to be the grown-up here?"

Sai winced, partly at his tone, partly at the look of his black eye. He still hadn't had the chance to ask what had happened to the man. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know I should have stopped them. I thought that… Molly's veil would have been enough… but…" Apparently it hadn't been. "I'm sorry…" he whispered, disconsolate. "For whatever it's worth."

Dresden sighed. "No… no, I'm sorry. I basically told you to listen to Molly, didn't I? Should have guessed she'd try to do something." He shook his head. "Well, at least I now know what to do next."

"What?" Sai asked, with a surge of hope.

"First I call Michael. Meet with him and Mouse and go check that place again. There must be something there I can find."

"A door to Nevernever…" Bob said quietly.

"Probably. Whether we can track them through it is another story." He stood up and went to take something from a drawer.

"What is that?" From where the skull was standing Sai couldn't really see what he was doing.

"The bracelet's pair," Dresden said, turning back to them, spinning it on a finger. "Don't worry, I'll get him back. Any last minute advice, Bob?"

"Pack some band-aid?"

Dresden snorted. "Very funny. I'll be going then."

"What about me?" Sai asked hurriedly. "I want to come with you!"

"How? You need to stay in the skull with Bob, and I'm not taking him. He's too valuable – and dangerous, if he ends up in wrong hands."

"Surely he wouldn't help evil people!" Sai exclaimed.

"You're making one fundamental mistake in your assumptions," Bob said. "You are assuming I would understand what such things as 'good' and 'evil' mean."

"Moreover," Dresden said, "he serves the one who holds him. Even his personality adapts according to his owner."

"Oh." Sai was quiet for a moment. "But doesn't that mean…" He fell silent.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just, you yourself called him a pervert…"

Bob laughed out loud. Dresden froze and groaned. "I _so_ didn't need that thought!"

"Well, boss, if it makes you feel any better, I've always appreciated the finer sex. The pain-in-the-ass part of your description, though…" Bob left the sentence hanging with something that reminded a smirk.

"Sorry," Sai muttered, a little embarrassed.

"Forget it," Dresden practically snapped. "I'm going."

"I think you really should take him with you, boss," Bob said. Dresden paused.

"You're just saying that because you want to get out."

Bob sighed. "Think about it. These two have basically been sharing a body for two years. The connection was severed when the boy was removed from this world to Nevernever, but it cannot be completely gone yet. You've got that trinket, but if his kidnappers have any sense, they're taking steps to prevent that kind of tracking. But if you get the ghost anywhere near to the boy's proximity…"

"The connection just might reestablish itself," Dresden muttered. "You've got a point there. But I don't still want to take you out there."

"Then give him a ride-along," Bob said, with a sense of a shrug.

"What?" Sai said. Dresden looked ill at ease.

"I don't much like that kind of stuff," he said. "You if anyone should know the dangers of that."

"Yeah," Bob said, a bit dreamily. "Good times. But seriously, boss, this guy's way too upright for you to have to worry about him possessing you or anything."

"What?" Sai repeated. "Certainly not! I would never do something like that! But can I really, would you… is that possible?"

"Yeah." Dresden was quiet a long while, considering. "Okay." He nailed his gaze at the skull, and Sai was again distracted by his black eye and swollen nose, wanting very much to ask what had happened. "I can take you," Dresden went on, "but we need a deal. You can see, you can hear, and that's it. I'll fling you out the moment you try to do anything else. Understood?"

Sai nodded, then realized the man couldn't see him. "Yes," he said intensely.

"Good. Also, you get fidgety during action, just close your eyes and don't distract me."

"Yes…" Sai repeated, now a little weakly. "So… how do we do this?"

"Wait a moment. Bob, give him a push when I tell you."

"Sure thing," Bob agreed happily.

A moment Dresden stood completely still, eyes closed. He muttered something Sai couldn't hear, opened his eyes and nodded. "Now."

Before Sai had time to react, a force formed behind him and flung him out of the skull, straight toward the man. He gasped, not so much of surprise but of the sharpness of the light that suddenly tore into him before he was in the dark again. He blinked, confused. Opening his eyes, he saw the skull on the table in front of him, orange light burning in its eyes sockets. The view from his left eye was strange, just a little slit of light, and he moved his hand to touch his eye, confused.

"Hey!" a voice snapped, and he froze. "Stay back. Watch, listen, that's all. Remember?"

 _Sorry_ , Sai murmured. _I didn't mean to… What happened to you?_ he finally asked.

"Long story. Let's get going."

⋆⋆⋆

Hikaru had sunk to sit on his mattress. He had attempted to call both Murphy and Dresden, but his phone had no reception in this place. Molly kept on sleeping. Nothing he could do drew the slightest reaction from the girl. And of Sai, there was not a trace left.

He hugged his knees to himself. Breathed, just breathed. Someone would come soon. He still had the bracelet Dresden had given him. The man would find him. Or if he didn't, maybe Mouse would be able to track him. Or Michael? He had to be searching for his daughter. Knight of the Cross… would praying help? Hikaru had never been overly interested in religious things, and it wasn't like his family were Christians, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to try…?

On the other side of the door, steps approached. Hikaru looked up, and rose warily on his feet when the door opened.

A middle-aged woman stepped into the room, brown skinned, with black hair that had yet no trace of grey and features that were rather handsome than beautiful.

"Good morning, Shindou-kun," the woman said in Japanese. "I am sorry for the harsh conditions, but in the current situation, this is the best we have."

Hikaru stared at her, uncertain. She didn't appear threatening, but something in the way she carried herself made him hesitate. "Who are you?" he asked quietly.

"Surely you understand I cannot tell you my name," the woman said. "Nor do you have any need to know it. Suffice to say I am your host here – a poor host, but nevertheless. Do not worry, in two days you can go your way."

Hikaru licked his lips nervously. This woman fit Dresden's description of the one he had been spying on. So was she the one who had abducted his parents…? Fear giving way to anger, Hikaru raised his chin as he faced the woman.

"And my parents?" he asked sharply. "Can they too leave after two days?"

The woman watched him calmly, not without certain sympathy. "I'm afraid not. I am sorry for your loss, but you should understand you will not see them again."

"You…!" Hikaru rushed at her, not himself knowing what he was going to do, but he hit an invisible wall less than half a meter from the woman, which flung him back down to his mattress.

"I have a question for you," she said, unruffled. "Who has been helping you?"

"Ah… I…" Hikaru's eyes flickered briefly to Molly.

"No," she said. "Not this girl. Someone stronger."

"What's wrong with Molly?" Hikaru asked, ignoring her question. "Why doesn't she wake up?"

"She is quite alright. I deemed it best to keep her lost in her dreams until everything is over, that way she cannot try to get involved and hurt herself. I am not doing this to bring harm to children."

"Oh really?" Hikaru stood up again. "That's kind of rich, after sending those ghouls to attack me!"

She was shaking her head. "I have not sent any ghouls after you," she said, and Hikaru paused, mouth half open. "But I asked you a question. Someone has tried to get involved in this matter. Who?"

Hikaru was quiet for a long time. "I guess you're not that hot stuff if you can't figure it out on your own," he finally said.

She raised an eyebrow at him, nodded then. "Someone will bring you food soon," she said, turning to go.

"Wait!" Hikaru exclaimed and took a step after her. "What about Sai?"

She looked back, for the first time a slight frown appearing on her face. "Who?"

"Sai! What happened to him?"

"I'm sorry, I do not know who you are talking about." With that she turned away and left.

Hikaru stared at the closed door. His heart was beating fast, palms were sweaty. He dropped down to sit on the mattress again. Okay. Do as you would in a tight game. Keep calm, analyze the situation, make a strategy. He took a deep breath. What did he know?

One, assuming that the woman told the truth, he and Molly were not in any immediate danger. Two, she was aware of someone being after her, but didn't know who – hadn't identified Dresden, in other words? He was a little worried at how she had not pressed on about it, though… as if she didn't really consider it important? …three, she didn't know about Sai either – unless she lied. But if that was true, what _had_ happened to the ghost?

He closed his eyes, tried to calm his breathing. No. He would not start thinking about that now. He'd get out of this place, find the wizard who'd help him to find Sai. And for that he needed to figure out what was going on. What else did he know? Four? Four was a question: if she hadn't sent the ghouls, who had? Five… whatever she was planning to do, would happen within two days.

Two days. Did he dare to assume that his parents would be safe as long? Two day wasn't much. As long had passed since his parents disappeared, and the police were no closer to finding them than in the beginning – at least as far as he knew. But surely it wouldn't take Dresden that long to find him. He fingered his bracelet. Even so…

Even so, he didn't dare to waste time sitting here, just waiting to be rescued. If only Sai had been there. He could have left their little prison – not to go far, but at least check out what was waiting outside the door. Now… he looked at Molly's lifeless form. Now he was on his own.

That woman had said someone would bring him food, right? They would have to open the door for that. Maybe he'd be able to jump them then…

He sat and waited, and soon enough someone approached again. The door opened. Flashlight's sharp light hit his face, blinding him momentarily. An armed man stepped in and took a step aside, out of the doorway. Another man placed a tray on the floor, and the first one moved out of the room, never taking his eyes from Hikaru.

The boy released his breath, still blinking his eyes. Okay, _that_ was an overkill. He really didn't feel he warranted so strong security.

He gave the tray a look: bread, fruit, water. Not bad for a breakfast, overall, but he wasn't hungry at all. Ignoring the tray he walked to Molly's side. What had the woman said, 'keep her lost in her dreams'? What exactly did that mean?

"Molly," he whispered to the girl. "Do you hear me? You need to wake up. I don't know what you're dreaming about, but it's only dreams. You…" He grimaced. "Molly, _wake. You…sleep. …dream? Only dream. It… you…_ " He fell silent, exasperated. He didn't know what to say, and even if he had known, probably couldn't have said it in English. Besides, most likely the girl didn't even hear him. Still, once more he bent over her. "Molly, I need you to wake up. _Wake!_ "

There wasn't the slightest movement on the sleeping girl's face. Hikaru sat back with a desperate sigh. No help from there. He was the one who had to figure out what to do. He just didn't have a clue.

⋆⋆⋆

Sai sat quietly within the _onmyouji_ , watching with slight curiosity the street, the traffic, the traffic lights and other street signs, for the first time from the driver's perspective. He didn't quite know _where_ exactly he was – within the man's mind? Just his body? – and he didn't really want to know, either. The whole experience was slightly disturbing. He just did his very best to remain quiet and unobtrusive, hoping he wouldn't do anything to distract the man at a critical moment.

The sun was up, but still quite low. It had to be early morning, still. Sai could feel the tiredness in the wizard's mind, and it worried him. He wished Dresden had had more time to rest – but could they afford it? Who knew how little time they had to find the boy. And his parents. And Molly. _And_ all the other kidnapped people. He reminded himself strictly that this wasn't only about Hikaru.

The car stopped and Dresden got out. Sai almost stood up, instinctively, before remembering he didn't need to do anything, just ride along. The man locked the car, and as he turned to walk down the street, Sai saw Michael and Mouse waiting for them.

"Harry," Michael said as they reached him. "What has happened to you?"

Dresden raised his hand to touch softly the side of his nose, winced then of pain – as did Sai.

"Unimportant, right now," the man grunted. They started walking toward the door to the Undertown corridors.

"I am sorry," Michael said. "I should have kept a better eye on them. I didn't realize they could communicate well enough to plot something like this."

Dresden was shaking his head. "No… I should have known my apprentice better, told her not to get involved."

"Known her better than I do?" Michael said with a sad, tight smile. Dresden glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, and Sai flinched in sympathy. It didn't seem that Michael had got much sleep during this night, either.

"The Japanese have a saying, fix the problem, not the blame," Dresden muttered.

Sai nodded to himself, recognizing the familiar saying despite a little strange phrasing – and then his eyes widened as he realized the men were talking in English. And he understood everything? Now, this was unexpected – but handy.

They turned to the little back street, just in time to see a repairman climb to his car and drive away. They waited a moment and walked then to the door. Dresden eyed the newly repaired lock a while in silence, muttered then, "I almost feel bad about this," pointed his staff at it, muttered " _Forzare_ ," and watched the door slam open, lock breaking – not feeling bad at all, Sai could tell.

They entered the corridor, Dresden leading with his shining staff, Michael after him, Mouse bringing up the rear, now released from his leash. The place had its old effect on Sai. Even as he was, riding along somewhere within the wizard's mind, he couldn't help shivering, and once again cursed himself. What had he been thinking, letting two children come alone to a place like this?

It didn't take long for them to reach the hall. This was the first time Sai got a good look of the place – not that there would have been much to be seen. It was the size of a small room, though a little bit higher than average, completely empty except for some old trash. Dresden stood in the middle of the room, seemingly doing nothing, but now Sai could feel his will gathering, and the ghost remained very, very quiet on the background.

Finally Dresden sighed and shook his head. "I can learn nothing here." He glanced at Michael. "Time to go."

The man nodded, and Dresden turned away from him. As for Sai, he would have stared at Michael for much longer. He didn't know where and how the man had gotten it, for he had not noticed him carrying anything – or had there been a bag? He wasn't quite sure. Nevertheless, a great sword hung now on Michael's side, and he seemed to be dressed in a cape and… chain mail?

Sai had no more time to be thinking about Michael's appearance, for he felt Dresden gathering his will again. " _Aparturum_ ," the man whispered, gestured with his staff, and the reality tore apart in front of them.

⋆⋆⋆

Hikaru stared at his phone. At first he had been happy to have it although there was no reception, for at least he could keep track of time with it. Now, he was beginning to change his mind. Time was moving so slowly he half suspected some kind of a magic trick. It simply wasn't possible he had checked his phone less than ten minutes ago last time.

The guards had brought him lunch, taking away the untouched breakfast without a comment. He had forced himself to eat although he had no appetite whatsoever. He would need energy.

If not for anything else but waiting.

He heaved a sigh, leaning against the wall. All morning he had attempted to come up with a plan, but in vain. His mind was stuck in a loop, the same thoughts circling round and round. He had considered telling the guards he wanted to speak with the woman, perhaps pretend he had something important to tell her… demand that they would take him to her immediately… and then he would, somehow, find a chance to run. But when the guards came with the lunch, he had remained quiet, didn't find the courage to open his mouth.

 _Would_ he get a chance to run? From armed, quite professional looking guards? And what if they didn't take him to her, but she would come here, again? What would he tell her? Could he, somehow, bluff her to believe… believe that something dangerous was after her, that if she didn't let him go, she would, would… what? He snorted at his thoughts. Better to make up at least half way believable story before asking to meet her.

He leaned his head on his hands, elbows on knees, and _thought_ as fervently as in his most demanding games, but with much less results. Finally he stood up, utterly exasperated.

"Molly!" He looked at the sleeping form of the girl. "Listen, Molly!" Bending over her he took a hold of her shoulders and shook her slightly. "You got to wake up. I can't do this alone, I need you. She said you're lost, I don't know what she meant by that, but you got to find your way. Wake up!"

⋆⋆⋆

 _She was standing in Harry's cellar in front of a table, a thick notebook lying open on it. She_ knew _she was dreaming, but as annoying as it was, couldn't wake up. She was sure one of Harry's notebooks contained the spell she needed to wake herself up, but she couldn't find it. She had been through them all, but there was nothing useful in them… this one was full of recipes. She glared down at the open page. Chocolate salami toast? So utterly useless. Why did Harry have stuff like this?_

_A voice was babbling something, quietly but extremely annoyingly. She shook her head. It was bothering her, making it hard to think. She didn't understand a word, what came to that. She shot a glance around, wondering where the voice came from, and her eyes stopped on the skull on a shelf. She took it in her hand and listened carefully. Yes, a quiet voice came from within the skull, talking… in Japanese? She frowned, tried to listen more closely – and yelped, the skull falling from her hands, when a snake suddenly struck at her from an empty eye socket._

_She bounced to sit up, heart beating hard. She was at her parents' home, in the living room, apparently been napping on the couch. She breathed out in relief. What a weird dream. Chocolate… salami? What had that been about. Humming a little amusedly, she saw little Harry building a castle on the floor with his blocks. It was quite a fancy castle too, she had never realized the blocks were quite that detailed. And did he have little dolls in there? She bent down to get a closer look, and blinked in surprise. What she had thought to be dolls, were in fact Amanda and Hope, dressed like princesses, waving at her from a tower window._

_Harry – now the older namesake of her little brother – said something sharp at her, and she looked at him, astonished. Was that Japanese? How did he…_

_The ground shook, the castle fell apart, and so did the house around her, and she fell, fell, somewhere deep down, screaming, until she woke up, lying on her back on green grass in a park, staring up at the deep blue sky where little pixies were flying all around…_

⋆⋆⋆

Sai had been waiting with slightly horrified excitement what this Never-place would be like as they stepped into the rift Dresden had opened, but he had to admit he was quite disappointed when they came through. They were in a small dark room much like the place where they had left from, so similar to the Undertown hall he half suspected they had not truly left the place at all. Although, this place was more like a cave, not something manmade.

"What is this place?" Michael said quietly. "Looks just like where we left from."

"Nevernever Undertown?" Dresden grunted. "Sounds lovely." He dug something out of his pocket: the pair of the bracelet he had given to Hikaru, and stood there a moment with it before putting it away with a shake of his head. _Feel anything?_ he asked Sai, who shook his head.

_No._

"Mouse. Smell anything?"

The dog sniffed around, examined all three paths that started from the hall, and finally paused at one of them. He looked back at Dresden and let out a short, confirming woof.

The man nodded. "Let's get going, then." This time with the dog leading the way they headed out of the little cave hall.

If the corridor in the Undertown had been an unpleasant place, this tunnel in Nevernever was something much worse. Sai kept on taking deep, calming breaths, telling himself he was quite alright – could there be a safer place than within the mind of a great _onmyouji_? He tried to suppress his shivers, for he well knew he could make Hikaru sick with his strong emotions, and he most definitely did not want to affect the wizard in a place like this.

At least it began to seem the place only _felt_ bad. They walked on, and nothing happened. And finally, to his great delight, Sai realized they could see the shadowy end of the tunnel. He smiled, hoping the man would hurry, but instead he slowed down, nearly stopping. Mouse let out a growl, and Sai gulped, very much wanting to ask what was going on.

"What is it?" Michael asked in his stead.

"I don't know," Dresden muttered. "But I don't much like it. There is something at the end of the tunnel."

They approached slowly, carefully, Dresden grasping his staff in right hand, holding gingerly the blasting rod (Sai suddenly realized he _knew_ what that little rod was) in the other, readying his shields. Michael had his hand on the sword hilt, but, Sai thought, there wasn't really room for a swordfight in the narrow tunnel.

_HALT._

The voice was more felt than heard, and this time Sai couldn't suppress a shiver. The end of the tunnel was so close… but there was something dark, shapeless hovering on the way.

_YOU CANNOT PASS._

Dresden grimaced. "That," he said, "is _my_ line. You are not supposed to use it against me."

There was a moment's silence.

 _NEVERTHELESS, YOU CANNOT PASS_ , the voice then repeated, impassionate.

"Well, shucks. You sure have a negative attitude about this," Dresden stated while putting his blasting rod back to its pocket inside his coat – fire would do little to shadows, Sai realized as he did it.

"Harry, what _is_ it?" Michael whispered.

"I'm not sure," Dresden replied in low voice. "A spirit of some kind. It doesn't seem to have a physical body, at least not in its current state."

"How do we fight it?"

"I…"

_YOU DON'T. I DO NOT FIGHT. BUT YOU CANNOT PASS._

"Hell's bells, _stop_ saying that," Dresden muttered. "Well. Let's see about that. Wait here." He started walking onward, shields raised, staff ready.

Sai swallowed. A great _onmyouji's_ mind was the safest possible place to be? Perhaps he hadn't quite thought this through. The shadow loomed in front of them, dark, but not unpiercable. He could see the barren landscape behind it, less than five meters away. Soft light shining on his staff Dresden walked into the shadow. Sai froze, closed his eyes, waited for something awful to happen.

The man walked on, stopped suddenly. "What the…"

Sai opened his eyes. Blinked, realizing they were facing Michael and Mouse. Dresden glanced behind, mouth hanging slightly open. The shadow stood between them and the exit, and they were back right where they had started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They say in the movie Rising Sun that "The Japanese have a saying, fix the problem not the blame". Whether or not that's true I don't know, but whatever. Harry's probably just quoting the movie, anyway.
> 
> Also, Harry's being really difficult, and not telling even me what happened to him. I realized I just have to write it all out. And it's turning into one huge chapter (will be over 10k, I think). I'm in fact wondering if I should post it as a separate fic… anyway, it's quite different from the rest of this fic – all from Harry's pov (not really a crossover, therefore), first person, a lot longer than other chapters, a bit out of place if I post it now at this part, and also, I think it could work as a stand-alone~ish story… not sure yet. It's got Thomas, though, which makes me happy. I wanted to get him into this fic, but it just didn't seem to be happening.
> 
> What would you think is better? Part of this fic or separate? I would link it here, of course.
> 
> ETA: forgot to mention that this week's a killer (and so is the next, probably...) which most likely means the next chapter will be late. It won't be happening this week, that I know.
> 
> ETA2: [posted Harry's (mis)adventures as a separate fic.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16348340)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Sai was listening in the background as Michael and Dresden quietly discussed the situation. He had somewhat calmed down from his initial fright, for the shadow that stood between them and the exit didn't appear to be threatening. It simply blocked their way. In fact, instead of fear he was beginning to feel extremely strong annoyance. He glowered indignantly at the shadow when Dresden looked at its way. It stood between him and Hikaru, delayed them from finding the boy – and for all he knew, every moment might be precious.

He wanted to tell the men to hurry, to stop talking and _do_ something. Certainly a great wizard and a Knight of the Cross should be able to defeat this thing – not that he was quite certain what a Knight of the Cross was, but it sounded impressive. But they talked on and on, and he forced himself to stay quiet. He did understand the value of planning, and the dangers hasty moves might lead to… but still, it was vexing to wait.

Finally Dresden nodded, and Sai looked up in excitement. He felt how Dresden began to gather his will and waited eagerly for whatever was to come.

 _This will not help, my host_ , a female voice said suddenly, and Sai let out a startled yelp. Dresden swore quite ardently.

"Harry?" Michael asked, but the man just shook angrily his head.

 _I_ told _you to stay back!_ Sai heard him snapping – although he did not speak aloud.

 _I am sorry,_ the female voice said, without sounding sorry at all. Sai was glancing fervently around, trying to spot the source of the voice. _But I had to warn you before you would do something stupid. You cannot fight this entity – at least not without spending longer to prepare than we can afford._

 _So what'd you have us do?_ Dresden asked grumpily. _Set camp here? Start roasting marshmallows and sing camp songs?_

 _Ask it_ , the voice said calmly. _Ask it what it wants for letting you pass._

 _You want me to start striking deals with creatures of Nevernever_ , Dresden said dryly, sounding – and feeling – absolutely pissed off. _Now that's smart advice._

_Given as you forgot to pack the marshmallows, that's the best you can do._

Dresden was positively seething in his mind, but said nothing.

 _Uh,_ Sai breathed. _Who is…?_

 _You be quiet!_ Dresden snapped, and Sai fell silent in mid-sentence, withdrawing to the background.

"Never thought I'd have to worry about crowd control in my mind," the man muttered darkly.

Michael gave him a worried look. "Harry…?"

He shook his head again with a great sigh. "Never mind." He fixed his gaze at the shadow, calm in appearance if not inside. "So. Doesn't hurt to ask, I guess. What is your price for letting us to pass?"

There was a moment's thoughtful silence. _A GAME_ , the voice declared then.

Dresden paused. "A game?" he said then. "Just… what kind of a game?"

The entity spent another moment considering. _I ENJOY RIDDLES._

"Riddles," Dresden said very flatly. "Michael, you know any riddles?"

"I must admit that's not my strongest point," the man said, calm, but something in his tone suggested to Sai he too was beginning to reach the limit of his patience. "How about you?"

"I know the Hobbit ones. Like, voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters…"

 _WIND_ , the voice declared immediately. Michael and Dresden shared a look.

 _My host, I could…_ the female voice said in Dresden's mind, but the man cut it short.

 _No. Stay quiet._ "Can't you pick anything else?" he said aloud.

 _YOU CHOOSE_ , the voice said with the sense of a disinterested shrug.

Michael and Dresden shared another silent look. Dresden grimaced. "Not sure I wanna start playing poker with this one…"

 _Excuse me_ , Sai said in a very, very small voice, hesitant to draw attention to himself. _How about go…?_

"Go?" Dresden said aloud, sounding surprised. _Think you could win?_

 _I know my skill_ , Sai replied, forcing his voice calm despite his fluttering nervousness. _Not this opponent's skill._

Dresden nodded thoughtfully.

 _You would take his help, but not mine…_ the female voice said reproachfully, and he snarled.

 _I've told you to stay_ quiet _!_

Sai winced at the strength of his voice. He wasn't sure what happened, but he got a feeling of a door slamming shut and a lock clicking.

_A GAME OF GO WOULD CERTAINLY BE INTRIGUING. IT HAS BEEN LONG SINCE I HAD ONE._

Dresden glanced yet at Michael who gave him a shrug, a hand still on the hilt, then at Mouse who was sitting on the ground, watching them with tilted head. He nodded. "Fine. Let's play then."

⋆⋆⋆

The silence was the worst.

For the past two years, he hadn't been alone for a single moment. Sai had always been there, every second of his life, even when he woke up in the middle of the night. Always ready to chat, of go, of the strangeness of modern life, of days long past. Past two years he hadn't had to spend a moment in silence if he hadn't wanted to. Now he had only his own thoughts, and they weren't pleasant company.

Sai… was gone. In two days his parents would be gone. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around that fact. He couldn't imagine a world where his mother wouldn't come to drag him out of bed in the morning, nag about schoolwork, have silly worries about how he'd make it as a professional go player. Nor a world without his father… even though he barely ever saw the man, hidden behind the morning newspaper during breakfast, coming home in the evening at the time he was about to go to sleep. Still, his father always _was_ there, somewhere in the background, taking care of things. Always would be there. That's what he had thought.

And Sai.

Though he had never thought of the fact that the day _would_ come when he would lose his parents, technically he had known that some day he'd move out and live on his own, and he wouldn't have them as a daily part of his life forever. But Sai… he had thought he would have Sai as his constant companion until the day he died. Then Sai would just move on, find another go board to dwell in, maybe haunt someone else. But what proof did he have that would happen? Just because it had happened once, he had assumed things would work out the same way, always.

So _stupid_.

Why had he never thought he might lose Sai? He had assumed… so many things. That Sai _wanted_ to stay with him, for one thing. The ghost seemed happy enough…didn't he? But…

But.

Sai wanted to play more. And _he_ wanted to play his own games. They had tried the online go thing… but Sai created too much of a buzz, even there.

So he had thought it'd be better for Sai to stay in the background for now. Anyway, they could still play together, no problem with that. And Sai could follow all his pro games, wasn't that something? Watch it all. Just… watch.

He swallowed. Would that be enough for _him_?

…now that Sai had been separated from him… would he want to return, even if he could? If he found someone else, someone who would let him play as much as he wanted. Like Torajiro had, once, ages ago. Sai always spoke so warmly of that boy. Maybe… maybe Sai would be happier, somewhere else, with someone else. Maybe…

… he shouldn't think of these things. He should try to think of a way to escape. Way to save his parents. Way to find Sai and get him back. There had to be a way.

Had to.

He started talking to Molly again, just to fill the silence.

⋆⋆⋆

_There were thirteen goldfishes in the pond, each of them of different color. She knew that, yet she had only seen twelve. The thirteenth was hiding, and it was her way out. She was crouching by the water, hugging her knees, staring intently at the shadows that moved beneath the water's surface. She had a spell on her lips, ready to be cast the moment she saw the fish. The other twelve circled around, at times coming to the surface, round fish mouths gasping the air dumbly. Their movements made her reflection on the water ripple. As it settled again, she frowned; the image seemed to be talking. She could see the mouth moving, but couldn't hear the words._

_Confused, she leaned closer. Yes, the reflection definitely was saying something, but she couldn't make out what… the words were distorted, as if the speaker truly were underwater. Should she too submerge to hear it?_

_Something large and fast moved in the water, so quick she had barely time to gasp when a black fish jumped at her, tiny mouth gaping open impossibly huge. She fell back, screaming, the spell in her mind crumbling apart just like the dream when the fish swallowed…_

_"No!"_

_The fish froze in the air, mouth open, and pieces of the dream – water droplets of the pond, the rainbow colored fishes, leaves from the trees that had stood around her – floated in the air as in a whirlwind captured in a slow-motion movie._

_"No," she repeated. "I must_ not _wake."_

_She paused, astonished. Wasn't waking up what she wanted? What she had tried to do for so long? Through countless barely remembered dreams… she shook her head._

_"I have to stop," she told herself. "I have to stop trying to wake up. It doesn't help. Every time when I'm about to wake up, I_ do _wake up… in another dream. I sleep, I dream – and this is_ my _dream. So I will have to control it."_

_She waved with her hand, and everything disappeared. Standing in the middle of vast colorless emptiness, she started to think._

⋆⋆⋆

A go board with a set of stones had appeared out of nowhere. Dresden sat down by it, cross-legged – Sai couldn't help feeling a little odd at that – and gave the set a look.

 _So how does this thing work?_ the man asked.

Sai took a breath. _It might be simpler,_ he said softly, _if you just could consider…_ He left the suggestion hanging, guessing that the man knew what he was talking about.

 _Let you in control for the game's duration_. Dresden did not sound pleased about the idea.

_It would be easier than trying to tell you where to play, but I'm sure we can manage…_

_No. It's okay. Go ahead._

Sai took another breath, calming his nerves. "Shall we nigiri?" he said, and was deeply startled hearing the question coming from Dresden's mouth.

 _GRASP THE STONES,_ the entity said, and he did so, telling himself this was not the time to get squirmy. His opponent guessed for an odd number and he held five stones, so he ended up playing white. As he collected the stones back to their bowl, he tried to get over the distorting feeling of using someone else's hands than his own. The left hand, he noted, covered in the glove as usual, was oddly stiff, half useless. Luckily it wasn't needed in the game.

 _This… is truly disconcerting_ , he thought to himself, and heard Dresden snort.

_You telling me?_

He would have replied, but at that moment the first black stone appeared on the board – appeared, wasn't played. He blinked at it, realized then that the game had started, and played his first move.

This was one of the weirdest games he had ever played. And that was saying a lot, in the end… he had played against a spirit inside a skull, and against invisible opponents on those computer-box-things which he had never quite understood. He was now happy of those experiences, for it made a little easier not to freak out when he raised his eyes to look at his opponent and saw only darkness. The way the black stones appeared on the board wasn't that different from computer go, really.

What he was more concerned about was that he couldn't get a grasp of his opponent's game. Unlike Bob, this one did not follow any old conventions. In fact, in some ways the spirit's go seemed to be the exact opposite of Bob's. There where Bob had clearly known the game but not felt it, this one didn't seem to know anything of the usual strategies at all, but just felt where to play.

Sai stifled the excitement that tried to start bubbling inside him, and stored some of the spirit's moves in his mind for later analysis. Now, he needed all his skill, all his intuition to win.

This was not the kind of game he could truly let himself enjoy. Of course, he wanted to be the best, wanted to reach the top, strived after the divine move, and a game like this, so freely exploring the boundaries of the game would normally have delighted him to no end. Victory alone didn't define a good game. The ultimate goal wasn't to win but to explore, to learn, to reach a higher level – together with an opponent who could take him to those heights. But now, he _had_ to win. The necessity of victory wasn't something to spur him on, rather it was a hindrance. Was a risk worth taking? Too much was on stake.

They played on, stone after stone, and he knew he was behind. Not hopelessly, yet, but even so, unless he came up with something new, he would have to resign already before endgame. Black played boldly, adding pressure to all his groups, and for a moment, all he could do was defend. But it wouldn't do to be timid. When black played a _hane_ , he replied in kind, not shying away from battle, and there was, perhaps, a slightly longer pause than usual before his opponent made the next move.

Even so, his largest group of stones was isolated, in grave peril. He took a breath, refusing to be overwhelmed. He played a cut, his opponent immediately enclosed his stone. He sighed, and kept on thinking. There was something he could try, but it was risky. He wasn't sure if it would work out in the end – and if it didn't…

If it didn't, he would lose. And in this game that wasn't an option.

He remembered another game, from long ago, that he could not afford to lose. Remembered the quiet snaps of the stones on the board against the distant song of cicadas, the perfect silence broken by wild accusations, mean-hearted whispers… remembered the shattered stones of the ugliest game he had ever played – and his dreams which that game had also shattered.

He stared at this board, heart in his throat, hand on the stone bowl, and knew how he wanted to play… but didn't dare. If his opponent realized too soon what he was up to, he would end up losing more stones than he could afford. Unable to make his decision he bit his lip, hand grasping a stone but not making any movement to place it on the board.

 _Hey_ , he heard Dresden's voice whisper somewhere in the back of his mind. _Thinking about it… this thing just asked for a game, remember? It said nothing about us having to_ win _the game._

Sai's eyes widened. _But… would it really…_

 _This is a creature of Nevernever. They're very literal. If what it meant was for us having to_ win _in order to pass, it would have said so. If it tries to argue, we can hold it to that. Just play your best, and give it a good game._

Sai nodded. Grasped the stone, snapped it on the board between two black stones. Out of habit, he raised his eyes to his opponent. There was no face for him, the expression of which to observe, but still it seemed to him that the softly swirling darkness on the other side of the board gave a startled pulse.

⋆⋆⋆

_There was a door in the emptiness. It had taken much of her to make it materialize, but there it was: an ordinary white door that could have been between rooms in any ordinary apartment. There was no lock, and it would be easy enough to open it. The only question was how to make sure that it would lead her to where she wanted to go._

_The trouble was that she didn_ _'_ _t know where her body was sleeping. Still in that hall in the Undertown? That was the place of her last memory. But it was possible she had been moved._

_She thought of the boy who had been in her company, and felt a sharp twinge of guilt. She had been supposed to protect him, and in the end she had been the one to take him into danger._

_She had to get back. Had to wake up, fix everything. Before it was too late._

_She placed a hand on the door and concentrated. Tried to think of everything Harry had taught her about the control of her mind, hoping she had been his student for a longer time. She might not have known what to do, but she did know the facts: that she was sleeping, and so within her own body wherever that body lay, and she had to keep the control of her dream, before she would again be caught in the endless series of dreams in which she was certain the randomnest thing would wake her up._

_She closed her eyes, tried to focus, but a sudden babbling voice shook her concentration. First she was annoyed, but then realized there was something familiar about it. Had she not heard this before? And the voice, quiet and distant, was speaking in Japanese, she suddenly realized. With a deep breath she shifted her focus on the voice, Listened, as Harry had taught her to do, and suddenly heard it clearly, from the other side of the door._

_"_ _Mori-san, me o samashite_ _…_ _me o samashitekure_ _…"_

_She took a breath. Another. Pushed at the door, and suddenly flew through a dark pathway toward blinding brightness._

⋆⋆⋆

Sai waited, watching at the board, his hands (well, Dresden's) in his lap. The game was over, and he assumed his opponent knew it as well. He had reached a five _moku_ win, at the end. His strategy had worked. That was a relief, no need to start arguing about technicalities. The whole game had changed after that single move. It had clearly baffled his opponent, and although the spirit had made no actual mistakes, it had been unable to come up with a response to that move that would have stopped Sai from reaching his goal.

The silence stretched a moment longer. Then the hollow voice echoed somewhere within their minds.

_I HAVE LOST._

Sai bowed his head – and Dresden's at the same time. "Thank you for the game."

The board disappeared. _THANK YOU,_ the spirit replied, tone as matter-of-factly as before. Whether it possibly was angry or pleased, Sai couldn't tell. He took a breath. This had been an amazing game, on so many levels. He couldn't wait until he would be able to show it to Hikaru – but they had to find the boy first. And for that, they had to get moving. He was just about to tell Dresden to take control, when the entity spoke again.

 _WHO ARE YOU?_ it asked.

Sai froze. What was he supposed to answer to that?

_YOU, WHO PLAYED THIS GAME, NOT THE MAN WE SEE._

Sai twitched, nervous. Would it be mad, realizing there had been someone else within his opponent doing the actual playing? Nevertheless, he wouldn't start hiding now. "My name is," he started to say, but Dresden cut him off.

_Wait. Let me._

Sai was just happy to let him in control. "He is Fujiwara no Sai," Dresden said.

The darkness bobbed, as in a nod. _THANK YOU FOR THE GAME, SAI OF THE FUJIWARA. IT HAS GIVEN ME SOMETHING TO CONTEMPLATE ON._

"You're quite welcome," Dresden muttered. "And we can go now…?"

_UNLESS YOU WOULD WISH TO STAY FOR ANOTHER GAME._

"I'm afraid we have no time for that," Dresden said, standing up and grasping his staff. "This took long enough."

He looked at Michael and Mouse, who came to his side, and together they walked through the dark, out of the tunnels. Sai would have wanted to glance behind, but the man kept on walking on, following the dog that again had the trail.

They were walking through an empty wasteland covered with dead grass, with a few old leafless tree trunks scattered here and there. The sky was of a dull shade of grey, without sun or moon or stars. There was no wind, nothing moved.

 _Good game_ , Dresden said after a while to Sai. _It was an interesting experience to follow your thought processes through it._

 _…thank you,_ Sai replied. It was also very 'interesting' to realize that had happened. _Why didn't you let me introduce myself?_ he asked, deciding to ignore all the disturbing sides of this affair.

 _Names have power. You should be careful with who you tell your full name. If they hear it from your own lips, the exact way_ you _say it, they can use it against you._

_Oh. Eh, thank you, I guess._

_De nada_ , the man replied. Sai blinked, not understanding.

They didn't have to walk long before Mouse stopped in front of two dead trees that were standing side by side with a couple of meters between them, their barren branches touching and interweaving between them.

The dog glanced at Dresden and the man nodded. "A gate, huh? This is where we go through again," he said to Michael.

 _Go through?_ Sai asked carefully.

_Back to our own world._

"Any idea where this place will lead us to?" Michael asked.

Dresden shook his head. "Somewhere where no one's been living for a while. Somewhere… abandoned. A dead place. That's all I can say."

"At least there shouldn't be civilians around getting on the way, then," Michael said, and Dresden nodded crisply.

"That's a good point. Other than that – we might end up in the middle of their stronghold, far from any potential help."

"I think we knew this when we started," Michael stated.

Dresden nodded again. "Enough with chatting. You ready? Let's go then." He pointed his staff between the trees, called out his spell, and the air between the trees turned shimmering red, as the gate back to reality opened.

⋆⋆⋆

Hikaru was crouching next to the sleeping girl, talking to her, begging her to wake up – pointless though he knew it to be, but it was the only thing he could do. Perhaps she would hear him, somehow. Perhaps she would find a way to answer. He had long since given up trying to talk in English, though. Instead he just babbled on, thinking aloud.

"I need your help, Molly. Try to wake up. I know you can do it, he said you're good with this kinda stuff. Just try your best, please? I need you…"

Evening had finally arrived. The guards had brought him dinner which he had just nibbled. Then he'd got an idea, born out of necessity, and he'd told them he needed to go to toilet. But instead of taking him to one, they had brought him – a pot. For once he had been happy that Molly was sleeping. He studiously avoided looking at the thing (thankfully emptied) that the guards had left in the room.

"Molly…" he whispered to the girl. "If you'd just wake up… wake up, and then we can escape this place. Together. I can't do it alone, I'm sorry… I would want to help, want to, to… do something, anything, but I just… can't. Molly, open your eyes. Please open your eyes…"

And the girl opened her eyes. Hikaru froze, his own eyes widening as the girl lay there, blinking. Slowly her eyes focused on him. She frowned. Then a smile spread on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game between Sai and the thingy is very loosely based on the fourth game played between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo, the first computer program that defeated a professional go player. I actually watched that game, and it was surprisingly exciting – very different kind of drama from Hikago games, though. xD That was the only game out of five that Lee won.  
> The game with commentary (love that commentary! “Like an earthquake, the wedge at 78 tore apart the cracks in Black’s fortress!” xD So properly dramatic...) is [here](http://www.alphago-games.com/view/eventname/leesedol/game/3/move/77). The link takes you to the 77th move. White 78 by Lee is the move that turned the game.
> 
> Also, about the title of this fic. I’m awfully bad at naming stuff (cough still have one long fic called simply The Untitled Heian Fic...) and when I started this one I just called it Chicago. And then I decided to write it in a Japanese kind of way, c > k, that is… and realized that Chikago is just C+Hikago. Yeah, that was a complete coincidence. Also, chika in Japanese means underground, and now I got one underground (kinda) go game into the fic, so yay.
> 
> I'll try to get back to more regular updates, but I make no promises about next week. Should write one research plan for next week's Thu, and I'm not even sure of my topic yet. xD


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Hikaru could only stare as Molly slowly sat up on her mattress. The girl grimaced a little, stretched her right shoulder.

"Ngh." She shot a frowning look across the room. " _What… where are we?_ "

" _…I… don't know_ ," Hikaru said, still blinking. One moment the girl was fast asleep, the next just opened her eyes without any warning. He shook his head. How or why it happened didn't matter, not to mention he would hardly even understand the explanation, if she were to give him one. Enough that she was awake now. " _There is… woman_ ," he said. " _The woman_." He made wiggly gestures with his fingers, mimicking magic. " _Two days…_ "

He paused, frustrated. There were so many things he wanted to tell Molly, but he didn't have words. But the most important… "Sai. Sai… _is_ … _not. Not here._ "

Molly looked at him slowly, eyes still bleary. " _Two days? What happens… huh? What do you mean, not here?_ " She looked at him a moment, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again she gave the room a searching look. Her eyes widened. _"What? Where is he?_ "

"Sai?" Hikaru asked. " _I don't know._ _You… know?_ " he added, hoping she had some idea what had happened, but that hope crumbled away when Molly turned her confused look at him.

" _Okay_." The girl took a deep breath. _"You said the woman is here? You mean the one Harry told you about? The sorceress?_ "

Hikaru nodded hesitantly, unsure if he had understood correctly. " _The woman… Dresden… telled?"_

" _What did she say?_ "

Hikaru grimaced, ran his fingers through his hair. " _We… here… two days._ " He showed the number with his fingers, just in case. " _Two days, we go_."

" _Go? You mean, after two days? Go where?_ "

Hikaru shrugged. Waved with his hand. "Anywhere we want, I guess." He gave a sigh, swearing in his mind to start paying more attention during English classes if he ever got back home again. " _Out. Away. …free?_ "

Molly was frowning. _"We can go after two days? So… does that mean…_ "

Steps approached behind the door. They froze for a moment, staring at each other. Then Hikaru glanced at his dinner tray. Were they coming to take it away? He gestured fervently to Molly to lie down again, and after a short moment of confusion the girl understood and fell back on the mattress, her eyes closed.

A key clicked in the lock and the door opened. Two men entered the room, as usual. Hikaru kept on crouching next to the girl, trying to look convincingly hopeless, heart beating so hard he was sure they had to hear it. True enough, one of them picked up the tray with the half-eaten food, but the other gestured at Hikaru to get up.

The boy turned to stare at the men, shock on his face. " _Come,_ " the man said in English, gesturing again commandingly. Hikaru glanced at Molly, panicking. Had they noticed she was awake? But she looked just like she was fast asleep, eyelids unmoving, chest rising softly in the rhythm of her breath.

"No," he said, swearing quietly in his mind. _Now_ they came to take him out of this room. "I don't want to. _No._ "

" _Come_ ," the man repeated, grasped his arm, and pulled him up. Hikaru had little choice but to follow as the man started pulling him toward the door. He shot one more glance at the girl over his shoulder. Molly was lying on her mattress completely unmoving. If he didn't know better, _he_ would have thought she was sleeping. He could just hope she hadn't somehow fallen asleep again.

The men locked the door behind them, and started leading him down a dark corridor. It seemed they were in some kind of an institute, or perhaps an office building – but whatever the place had once been, it was clearly abandoned long ago. Dust and trashes covered the floor, the paint on the walls had cracked away, there were holes in the ceiling from which hang pieces of wire and pipes. Outside the flashlight's sphere of light there was complete darkness. Most of the doors in the corridor were standing ajar, but the rooms behind them were completely dark, too.

They passed a glass door with unreadable graffiti on it, walked by dead elevators and a sign saying, white on red, "stairs". "Doctors on-call," Hikaru read in passing on yet another door, and he blinked. He didn't know what the rest of it meant, but he did know doctor. Was this an abandoned hospital? He shuddered a little, peering into the dark. The fact that he was well aware that ghosts really did exist didn't help to make the place any less creepy.

Light shone from the crack of a door ahead, and the men led him to it. The office room had been somewhat cleaned up – or at least most of the junk was piled in one corner, leaving the desk clear. The woman was sitting by the desk, reading something in the light of a small orb of light that was floating above the desk. She looked up as they entered. Hikaru straightened his spine instinctively, clammed his jaws shut, and refused to gawk at the orb.

"Shindou-kun. Please sit down." She gestured toward a free chair, and after a short hesitation the boy obeyed.

He gave the woman a long look as he sat down. When they first met he had been too rattled to really pay attention at her. Now he realized she probably was older than he had thought. Her hair was completely black, true, but the lines on her face spoke of age. Her eyes were so dark he had trouble extinguishing the pupil from the iris, her expression completely blank. She was dressed quite nondescript in black shirt and trousers. Hikaru's eyes stopped on a tattoo of a stingray on the back of her left hand, its tail disappearing underneath the sleeve of her shirt.

"I was thinking about the things you told me," she said, and Hikaru paused from examining her. Things he told her? He didn't remember telling her anything. "The ghouls," she went on. "Tell me more about them. When did the attack happen – and how did you survive it?"

Hikaru said nothing, thinking frantically. What was the best approach? Should he just say he wouldn't be telling her anything as long as she held his parents captive? Or would it better to talk, and maybe get _her_ to talk too? If he was careful with what he said, staying to the truth but not to the _whole_ truth, not telling her too much and leading her on…

He swallowed. This was a game. A game with extremely high stakes and without rules he'd know – but it was better not to think of that now. "I…" he started in a feeble voice and coughed. "I'd gone to have hamburgers with this guy who'd… been assigned, like… to guarding me, a cop, that is, and those ghouls came there. And we… fled them, run to our car and managed to shake them off. That was… yesterday? Afternoon."

"Ghouls coming to a hamburger restaurant," she said in musing tone, dark eyes nailed to him. "They must have been disguised. How did you know that they were ghouls?"

Hikaru opened his mouth, and closed it. What could he say to that?

As he hesitated, the woman nodded. "The 'cop' guarding you was no cop, was he? A wizard. Most likely the only one in the country – if not in the world – who advertises in a phonebook." Her tone held wry amusement, though her face was still quite impassive. "And who quite recently got a new apprentice, a girl who got herself in trouble with the White Council." Hikaru said nothing, but she nodded again. "Yes, I thought so. Harry Dresden."

The boy stayed quiet, staring at her glumly. Why was she asking him things if she anyway knew the answers?

"What about," she went on, "this Sai you mentioned? Who is he?"

"A friend," Hikaru said. "Who also disappeared. So I thought you got him too. Just like we thought you sent the ghouls," he went on, not wanting to talk about Sai with her. "If it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I think I know, but his name would tell you nothing. Suffice to say he is someone who is trying to meddle in my affairs – which doesn't mean he'd have your best interests in his mind."

"As you've got, I bet," Hikaru snorted.

"I told you before, child," she said quietly. "I am sorry for your loss, but this cannot be helped."

Hikaru opened his mouth for an angry retort, but paused. _A game. Think of a game. You don't have enough stones yet. Can't attack. So… distract. Make a trap. She thinks you're just a kid._ Be _just a kid, then._

He closed his mouth with sniffle. "What… what are you going to do to them?" he asked in a small voice, willing tears to his eyes. That happened almost too easily. He felt one rolling down his cheek, and took a shaky breath.

 _Okay._ Don't _start crying for real now._

"I need them," the woman said with a sigh of her own. "You will understand when everything is over. Perhaps with time you might even forgive. Though I doubt that. Few human beings are capable of putting aside their own wants and needs, and seeing what the _world_ needs."

"And… what does the world need?" Hikaru asked slowly, with a frown. He had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"Help," she said. "Against the plague we are."

Hikaru's frown deepened, but she didn't clarify. Instead she nodded at the guards. " _Take him back._ "

"Wait!" Hikaru exclaimed, when one of the men moved to him and placed a demanding hand on his shoulder. "Can't I… can't I please see my parents? If they are here? One last time? Please?"

The woman was shaking her head. "That would do you no good. Besides, I am already preparing…" She paused and frowned. Hikaru kept his eyes on her face, trying his best to look as small and harmless and wretched as he possibly could. That was easy, he was feeling rather small and harmless and wretched. He didn't know what he could do even if she let him see his parents… but at least he'd know then where they were kept, and maybe he'd be able to let them know help was coming.

He at least hoped help was coming.

The woman remained quiet, considering something. "I might as well," she said then, though Hikaru had no idea what she meant. "It might be safer for me – though certainly not in any way less traumatizing for you, I'm afraid." She nodded and stood up. "Let's go then."

Heartbeat speeding up again Hikaru followed her out of the room, escorted by the guards, back into those long, dark, silent corridors.

⋆⋆⋆

They stepped out of Nevernever, wary, Dresden grasping his staff with a spell ready in his mind, Michael with his hand on the hilt, Mouse ears pricked alertly, muscles ready for a jump – and Sai staying in the back, as unobtrusive and small and quiet as he possibly could be. There was no one facing them as they returned to the real world, and after a moment everyone relaxed slightly.

They were standing in the yard of a large building complex. The building was dark, no light visible in a single window, and so was the yard, thrashes and dead leaves spread across it. The pavement was cracked, a few weeds pushing their way through it. If ever, Sai thought, remembering Dresden's words, he had seen an abandoned place, this was it. An abandoned, dead place.

Dresden frowned, looking around. "Why does this place seem kinda familiar?"

"I don't know of you," Michael said quietly, coming to stand next to him, "but I know very well why it is familiar to me. This is the Edgewater hospital. Molly was born here, shortly before they closed the place."

"Really?" Dresden turned to stare at him, astonished. "That… is an interesting coincidence."

"Perhaps," Michael said in that same quiet tone, eyeing the place thoughtfully. "Mouse," he said then. "Do you still have the scent?"

The dog made a confirming noise.

So they were still on the right track. Sai gave a relieved breath. Then he realized something a little belatedly, and frowned. _Wait… why is it so dark? Isn't it still morning?_

 _We lost some time in Nevernever_ , Dresden replied. _Time doesn't always flow there similarly to our world._ He frowned. "I hope we didn't lose more than this day, though," he said aloud. "Though as it is, those we're tracking probably lost some time too." He kept on frowning, staring into the distance deep in thought, and Sai remained quiet although he had a bunch of questions swarming in his mind.

Michael nodded. "Harry," he said quietly. "If you learned anything at all during your… misadventures, now might be a good time to share it."

The wizard sighed. "Nothing much, I'm afraid. That there are even more kidnapped couples than we knew about, that the main culprit really is a sorceress of Samoan origin, that she has a stingray tattoo which might not be significant, but her henchman called her the Stingray because of it. That's it, really."

Michael nodded again, looking grim. "Shall we go?" he asked.

"I'm thinking," Dresden muttered, and Michael and Mouse glanced at him, both of them seeming to smile a little. He gave a snort. "Shut up, you two. That's been known to happen time to time. I was just thinking if we should give Murph a call or not. I mean, she's going to be seriously pissed off if we don't, but on the other hand, I don't know if I want to have cops running into a situation they won't comprehend."

"It might not be a bad idea to keep her informed," Michael stated. "Just in case." He took out his cell phone. "I'll ask her not to move in yet. And… could you keep your distance?" he added turning the phone on.

Dresden grunted and gestured to Mouse. "Show the way, boy." The dog led him to a locked side door. After a while Michael came after them.

"She promised to wait half an hour before taking action."

Dresden snorted. "That's actually really generous of her." He frowned. "It's too quiet here," he muttered.

Michael nodded. "Do you think they're not here anymore? Maybe we should have confirmed they're here before calling her."

"No…" Dresden looked down at the dog, who was eyeing the door with pricked ears. "I think they're here."

"In that case, I would have thought this place to be better guarded."

"Maybe they thought the thingy in Nevernever's guard enough," Dresden replied, but didn't feel quite convinced about that. In fact, Sai noted with worry that he seemed nearly certain something was about to go wrong. "Well, we're still far from finding them." _Do you feel anything?_ he asked Sai.

Sai blinked. True. If Hikaru was somewhere near – perhaps even in this very building – shouldn't he feel it? He closed his eyes and concentrated.

What was he _supposed_ to feel? The boy's presence? Some kind of a pull toward him? After a while he shook his head. _No_ , he admitted sadly. _I don't think I feel anything like him._

"It never can be too easy, can it?" Dresden muttered. "Well, let's get going." He pointed his staff at the door, it flung open, and they entered the building.

⋆⋆⋆

They were climbing up a stairway, floor by floor, higher and higher, the woman leading the way, Hikaru following her, escorted by the two guards. By the sixth floor Hikaru was shooting daggers at the woman's back. Sure, the elevators probably hadn't been working for years, but even so. Magic that wasn't compatible with technology? Ridiculous.

Finally the stairs ended, they had reached the top of the building. One of the guards opened a door and Hikaru followed the woman in, on the edge. Was this where she was planning to do whatever dark ritual it was she had in mind?

As he saw the room they had entered, he paused and blinked. Whatever he had been expecting, a swimming hall wasn't it. The room had windows on three sides, and he could see city lights shining on each side over rooftops. That in itself was reassuring; if they only got out, there would be people around. But then his eyes fell on the pool, and he couldn't help walking to its edge and just staring at it, for a moment forgetting everything. It was filled with water so clear at first he didn't even realize there was any. He could see the bottom of the pool clearly through it – and beyond the bottom, he thought suddenly. There was something hovering in the emerald water, shapes with faint echoes of colors… coral-like shapes, he realized. And more swiftly moving things, like fish, among them.

He blinked again and the sight was gone, no corals, no fish, not even water. He could only see the cracked dirty bottom of the pool. After a moment he realized the woman was standing next to him, looking as well into the pool. She glanced at him, as if sensing his look, and started to turn away.

"What… what was that water?" he whispered, and she paused, looking at him as if surprised by his question.

"Waters of the Great Barrier Reef," she said quietly.

"How…" Hikaru started to ask, but then he noticed something else, a row of people lying on the other side of the pool. And among them, near the middle…

"Mom!" he shrieked and rushed away, not even noticing how the guards twitched and grasped their weapons. He fell to his knees by the woman who, just like Molly before, seemed to be sleeping peacefully. "Mom!" he shouted again, grasped her shoulder and shook her strongly. "C'mon, wake up! It's me, mom, please, wake up!"

"She won't," he heard the woman's quiet voice. "And that's for the better, really."

"Better!" Hikaru exclaimed, looking up at her. "What the hell you talking about?! All these people…" He fell silent, only now taking in how many people there really were. His father was lying next to his mother, and they were about in the middle of the row. Disbelieving, as his gaze wandered across the sleepers, Hikaru counted altogether sixteen people. Eight couples of all ages, the youngest barely older than he was.

"What?" he breathed, suddenly scared again. "Why… what are you doing with all these…"

"Go sit there," she said, ignoring his question and nodding toward an old white plastic chair standing by the window.

Hikaru stood up slowly, looking at the chair. His eyes moved from it back to the people lying at his feet, traveled across the length of their row. He looked at the guards who were watching him, faces impassive, poses at the same time relaxed but alert – keeping an eye on him, but not finding him a threat of any kind. Finally he looked at the pool, thinking of that crystal clear water he had seen, and slit his eyes, attempting again to see it again. Nothing.

He looked at the woman standing at the pool's edge, and for a short moment met her eyes. He paused, heart skipping a beat. Something stirred within him, something cold and bright and ancient, and he shuddered, breath suddenly caught in his throat, but the moment he thought it would swallow him whole, the woman turned away and the feeling disappeared.

"The chair," she said quietly, looking into the pool – into the water, he was sure. "Now."

Hikaru swallowed, licked his lips, and backed off to the chair without a word. As he sat down one of the guards slipped a handcuff round his wrist and attached it to the armrest of the chair. Hikaru grimaced at it. The chair was light and it'd be no trouble for him to carry the whole thing, but it certainly made it difficult for him to run. Which was the point, of course.

⋆⋆⋆

The door had led the rescuers to a stairway, and Mouse started leading them downward. Sai felt his excitement growing. The dog seemed so sure of himself. They had to be drawing near the kids – and he had had barely time to think that, when Mouse stopped and hesitated. They had left the stairway and were standing in a barren, trashy corridor, but the dog seemed unsure of which direction to continue. He sniffed first one way and then the other, making noises deep in his throat that sounded quite grumbling.

"What is it, boy?" Dresden whispered. "Did you lose the trail?"

Mouse ignored him, still sniffing meticulously the corridor, a little bit in both directions.

"Were they separated?" Michael asked quietly. Mouse gave a shake of his head that seemed denying. "Have they been in both directions?"

The dog lowered his head in what might have been a nod.

"Well." Dresden leaned on his staff and looked in both ways in its shimmering light. Not that he could see far in the dark corridor. "Any idea which way is more recent?"

The dog looked left and right, and gave a grunting sigh. Dresden echoed the sound. "Fine. Ghost. Anything?"

 _I, umm…_ Sai as well looked left and right and tried again, at his hardest, to _feel_ for Hikaru. Nothing. But… he paused to look right. The corridor that way felt somehow… warmer. Not quite as dark. He blinked, not quite understanding. Was that somehow connected to Hikaru? How? What if he now said they should go right, and that was wrong?

He fidgeted, hesitated, and after a while Dresden nodded. "Right it is, then," the man said, and they headed that way.

"Michael, you said you know this place?" he whispered as they walked on. "Do you remember anything useful? Where'd she be most likely to keep them?"

Michael gave a somewhat uncharacteristic snort. "I was here for the birth of my firstborn child 18 years ago. I wasn't exactly making notes of the place, thinking where to keep kidnapped people."

"How sloppy of you," Dresden muttered.

Michael smiled a bit. "To tell you the truth, I barely remember anything from that time except the wrinkly pale pink creature the nurses placed in my arms," he went on in a distant voice. "How tiny it was. And how… absolutely perfect. Harry," he said suddenly more decisively and Dresden glanced back. "You really should get children."

Dresden made a chortling sound. "Yeah, right. So they could inherit the enemies I've made. Not to mention some of my goddamned allies."

"Don't blaspheme," Michael said softly. "That is not…"

"Is this the best time for this discussion?" Dresden snapped. "Besides, I wasn't blaspheming, that was a literal description." He paused and raised a hand, cutting off what Michael had been about to say. "Now, what's that?"

Mouse had stopped behind a door, sniffing at it.

"They here?" Dresden whispered. Mouse gave a shake of his head and pawed at the door, which gave a squeak and opened a crack.

A short moment they waited, then Dresden gave the door a push. There was a dark room behind it. He muttered a word and soft light appeared at the end of his staff. Not much to see there, though: just an empty desk and a pile of boxes in the corner.

Dresden walked to the desk and ran a finger across it. "No dust," he remarked. He checked the drawers which turned out to be empty, and shot a glance across the room, looking thoughtfully at the boxes. 'Deceased 1995', Sai read with him on one of them, and shuddered.

 _Afraid of ghosts?_ he heard the man's amused voice. _You're deceased too, remember._

Sai didn't dignify that with an answer.

"Maybe she's been using this room," Michael said, voice was sharp with impatience. "But there's nothing here. We have to go on."

Dresden gave him a sideward glance, but nodded then. "Lead on, boy," he said to Mouse.

⋆⋆⋆

It was so utterly frustrating. Right after Molly had woken up and he wasn't alone anymore, they dragged him here and once again he was on his own. Perhaps Molly would find a way to slip out… but even if she did, would she find them? Could she do those tracking spells Dresden had used? He had no idea. Once again, he couldn't count on getting any help.

Hikaru slumped gloomily in his chair, watching the scene in front of him. Not that there was much to be seen. The sleepers slept, the guards guarded, and the woman… he wasn't sure what she was doing. Mainly she just stood staring into the pool, at times making short gestures with her hand. If anything was happening, he couldn't see it from where he sat.

Two more guards arrived into the room, walking briskly. They hesitated a moment, seeing the woman standing by the pool, but approached her then. Hikaru couldn't hear what they said to her, but the words had an immediate effect. Her eyes snapped to him for a moment, then she turned and headed to the door, leaving all the guards behind to watch the boy.

Hikaru bit his lip. Something was going on. Perhaps help was finally arriving? If only he could get free. He looked at the handcuff that tied him to the chair. It wasn't too tight… He twisted his wrist just a little, as stealthily as he could. Not too tight, but still tight enough… it wouldn't be easy to get free. He had some vague memories of some manga that he had read that if you dislocated your thumb, it would make it possible to escape handcuffs. That sounded painful. Not to mention he didn't have a clue how to do it in practice.

He forced himself to sit quietly. It would be just stupid to try anything right away, now that the guards were alert. He should think it through first – but then again, if he was going to do something, it would be best to do it before the woman returned. He gave his thumb a frowning look. Maybe he'd be able to figure this out…

" _Be quiet now_ ," a voice whispered to his ear and he gave a start. " _Quiet!_ "

He looked over his shoulder. It was Molly's voice, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. A hand touched his wrist, very lightly, but he saw nothing.

" _Let me_ ," he heard the voice again, and as he watched, wide-eyed, the handcuff moved a little, there came slight rustling noise from it, and suddenly it opened. " _There!_ " Molly sounded quite self-satisfied. " _Okay, now. When I say, stand up. Understand?_ "

Hikaru nodded slowly. He was beginning to catch on. Molly was there, under a veil. How she would get him out he didn't know, but at least he was now free of the handcuff. So far no one had noticed anything.

" _Stand!_ " Molly whispered sharply, and he did, adrenaline rushing through his body as he was ready to make a run for it. Still, although he saw the guards looking straight at him, they didn't pay any attention to him getting up. He blinked, surprised.

" _We need to go_ ," Molly said, and now he saw her as he looked over his shoulder, standing right next to him. He saw also himself, sitting on the white chair, properly handcuffed. He blinked again and stared. The boy with yellow bangs looked glumly straight ahead, shifted his feet a little, fingered discreetly his handcuff – though not nearly discreetly enough, Hikaru thought with a grimace. Every inch of him looked so real Hikaru could have sworn that was himself sitting there. As if he had become a ghost, leaving his own body behind.

"Maboroshi," Molly whispered to him. Illusion.

"Wow," he breathed. It looked so real. All the little movements, blinking eyes, quiet breathing, a finger stroking the handcuff. "That's…!"

"Shh." The girl raised her finger to her lips and nodded toward the door. " _Go_ ," she mouthed and started walking that way, pushing Hikaru gently on. He followed her for a few steps but paused then to look at his parents.

" _Wait_ ," he whispered as quietly as he could. Molly glanced at him, and he nodded toward the sleeping people.

" _I can't wake them_ ," she whispered. " _We need to go. Come! We go and get help._ "

Hikaru licked his lips nervously. She had a point, if he understood her correctly. But… they didn't even know where they were. Perhaps still in Chicago… but even so, how soon would they be able to get help? He had a feeling they were already out of time.

" _Come!_ " Molly repeated fervently, pulled his arm. " _This is hard! I can't keep both the illusion and the veil up for long!_ " Hikaru looked at her, not understanding, and she grimaced. " _She knows I've escaped. We have to go. Now._ "

Still the boy didn't move. If they couldn't wake the kidnapped people, perhaps they'd be able to mess up what the woman was doing in some other way. The pool with its phantom water had to be a part of it. Could the pool be emptied somehow… of water that didn't really be there? Or maybe just throwing something in there would be enough? He walked to the pool's edge, and heard Molly making an exasperated noise.

" _No time!_ " This time she pulled his arm much harder. " _Come! We…_ "

The balcony's door opened again, and they both froze as the woman entered the room again. Molly made a little move, as if to head to the door herself, but hesitated as the woman gave a single glance at the image of the boy sitting on the white chair and shook her head slightly.

The illusion disappeared, and all the guards gave a start, which would have been quite satisfying if the woman hadn't been staring straight at the wide-eyed pair standing by the pool. " _There you are. It seems I underestimated you._ "

" _You should know we've got help coming_ ," Molly said quickly. " _It'd be best for you just to surrender._ "

She smiled a little. " _Really? Even if you could have somehow contacted someone, they would not have arrived here yet. And I doubt you've been able to do that – though you shouldn't have been able to wake up, either. Perhaps the Council are not as great fools as I thought, being worried about you. No more chances, I'm afraid."_

She raised her hand.

⋆⋆⋆

"Are they climbing up and down this building just for fun?" Dresden muttered irritably under his breath. Mouse had led them through the corridors to another staircase and headed upward. It was beginning to feel like they were climbing to the roof. "How high is this…" He almost stumbled on the dog that had suddenly stopped and stood facing upward, ears pricked.

"What is it?" Michael whispered.

"Shh!" Dresden was listening too, to something Sai couldn't hear. "There is someone up there, nearby. A woman. I think…" He frowned. "She's… talking to herself? …is that a tracking spell?"

They stood in complete silence, waiting. "She's moving," Dresden murmured then, very quietly, and they started climbing again, stepping as softly as they could.

The stairs ended to a small hall. One of the doors stood half open, and Mouse stopped behind it, giving the men a meaningful glance. A very familiar voice carried to their ears through it.

"… _best for you to surrender_."

Sai could swear he felt his heart skipping. Molly was there. And so perhaps Hikaru too was behind that door? He would have wanted to rush in, but Dresden was holding him back. Michael as well took a sharp breath and started onward, but Dresden placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Wait. Let's check what's going on first."

Michael shook his hand off and took a careful peek into the room. "Just her and a few guards?" he muttered. "That's not too bad."

Dresden winced. "Don't give the universe lines like that, Michael. Now, we have to…"

" _No more chances, I'm afraid,_ " they heard the woman saying, and Michael flung the door open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaannndd… cut. Sorry. Had to cut this somewhere to get something finally up.
> 
> Sorry about the wait, too, once again. Life is... life. I have a feeling I'll be saying the same when I post the next chapter. One more chapter to go after this, plus (probably) a short epilogue. I'll try to get this finished before Christmas, but we'll see what happens.
> 
> Edgewater hospital is a real abandoned hospital in Chicago. You can see photos [here](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Photos-Show-Inside-Abandoned-Edgewater-Hospital-408560385.html). Creepy place...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so my goal to update by Christmas (or by New Year at latest) was a bit too optimistic, but hey, I almost made the latter goal. ^^ This is the last real chapter, only a short (I'd imagine, it's not yet written) epilogue left after this.
> 
> Also, it took me so long to write this chapter it's not been proofread as carefully as usual (which is like a gazillion times, normally... >_>) so let me know if anything's off!

**Chapter 11**

" _No more chances,_ " they heard the woman saying, and Michael flung the door open.

"That's my daughter you're giving no more chances," he said as he stepped into the room, sword in hand, voice cold as ice.

 _His daughter_ and _Hikaru!_ Sai exclaimed. _Go after him!_

Dresden bit down a curse. _It's_ my _part to barge in with no plan_ , he thought glumly, and there was a faint echo of female chuckle. Dresden ignored it, and rushed into the room after Michael, the arm with his shield bracelet raised, just in time to fend off the shower of bullets that was welcoming them.

"Well," the woman said, turning to them as the reflected bullets dropped down in front of her as if hitting an invisible wall. "So she wasn't bluffing."

"Hah," Molly breathed, staring at them with wide eyes. And yes, Hikaru was there too, standing half behind her, by the edge of an old empty swimming pool, _Hikaru_ , looking tired and a little scared but still absolutely himself, and unharmed. Sai couldn't help the shaky, relieved sob that escaped him at the sight of the boy.

Dresden's attention was elsewhere, though. He was watching the scene behind Molly and Hikaru, taking in the row of sleeping people and the pool with its… water? Sai blinked. He had thought it was empty, but yes, it really was full of water, water with an almost ethereal shade of emerald to it.

"Damn it," the man swore, real anger in his voice. "The hell you're up to here? No, don't bother telling me." He walked to Michael's side, staff poised to face the woman. Mouse followed him, stopping at his other side. "Whatever it is, it's over now. You can't imagine you could fight all of us at the same time."

"Don't question my powers of imagination," the woman said, dry amusement in her voice. "Though I admit, you have an impressive pet there. Let me call mine."

She turned the back of her left hand toward them, pulling her sleeve down a bit to reveal the entire stingray tattoo. The image shivered, floated half a second in front of her hand, and then the stingray took off with a quick flap of its pectoral fins, rising up in the air – growing in size as it went. As it reached the roof of the hall and swung to face them, it measured at least 20 feet from its head to the tip of the tail. Sai had barely time to register this when it plunged downward at them.

" _Ventas servitas!_ " Dresden bellowed, staff pointed at it. The wind hit the stingray head on but barely slowed it down as it swam against the current of air. The thin long tail flipped, a blurry motion that Dresden's hand rose to block, but there was no need for that; Michael's sword was just as fast, hitting the sting underneath the tail with a metallic clang that made them all blink. The stingray whirled over them, undamaged.

"The hell," Dresden muttered. "What's that made of, duranium?"

 _No time to wonder about that_ , Sai breathed out. This rescue… wasn't working out the way he had hoped. As Dresden's eyes scanned the scene, he did so as well, and he didn't like what he saw. The four gunmen spreading out, the stingray hovering above them ready to strike again, the sorceress muttering something under her breath, and the water… the ethereal water of the pool shimmering, its calm surface suddenly foaming as if stirred by invisible winds – or something underneath it. _Something's happening!_ Sai shrieked. _What's happening! Hikaru, look out, behind you, what is, something is, what's that…!_

"Hell's bells, _stop freaking out!_ " Dresden snapped aloud with such strength Sai nearly swallowed his tongue falling suddenly quiet. Michael gave the man a sideward glance, but probably guessed who he was talking to. Mouse simply flicked one ear. The greatest effect this exclamation had on the sorceress who for a moment paused from whatever she was doing, and gave the man a sharp look.

The water fell quiet for a moment as well. Then the woman muttered a word, and a tentacle broke the surface, making a shot at the sleepers.

"Bloody hell!" Dresden yelled, shooting a quick blast of fire at the tentacle which retreated back into the water with an angry whip, splashing up a pillar of water high enough to hit the ceiling. The water hadn't settled when a head broke the surface again.

The wizard blinked. "Is that a crab or a…" He bit down another curse as the crab-like creature attempted to climb out of the pool, tentacles splashing the water around it so it was hard to see clearly. "Mouse, on that beast! Molly, distract the guards! Michael…"

"I'm on it," the knight said, eyes fixed on the stingray that circled in the ceiling.

Dresden turned to face the sorceress, waving with his staff toward the creature that had again retreated into the water. "That… crabtopus is about to devour your prisoners. Are you just watching?"

"That is exactly what it is supposed to do," she replied calmly. "And Kraken was only the first to come, others should be here soon… from all over the world, from Bakunawa to Timingila and Yacumama and all the others. Your dog, magnificent though he is, has a bit more coming there than he can handle."

They both looked at the dog who stood between the water and the sleepers, teeth bared. Then, unmoving, without looking away, the woman muttered a single word, and a beam of light left from her hand toward the wizard who raised a shield and dodged at the same moment on pure instinct.

Sai swallowed, and managed to remain quiet. Not a good time for a distraction. He saw Michael raise his sword as the stingray dove down, rolling aside while simultaneously hitting the stingray's fin, he saw Mouse grabbing a tight bite on a flailing tentacle while attempting to dodge the other five tentacles reaching for him, he saw three Mollys running around (and blinked at that), and something invisible getting hold of a white plastic chair, hitting one of the gunmen hard enough for him to stumble into the water and disappear underneath its foam. Even Hikaru, he saw, was trying to do his part, dragging the sleeping people farther away from the pool – having started from his parents.

Meanwhile Dresden rolled again aside, dodging another beam of light and calling out " _Forzare!_ " as he went. A blast hit the ceiling above the woman, and a part of it collapsed, falling on her – except she wasn't standing there anymore. Feeling quite useless, Sai retreated even further back within the man's mind. He could do nothing to help, but it would be so easy for him to ruin everything with a badly timed distraction. He looked at Hikaru, heart aching, when the man faced that way. If he could at least go to the boy, let him know that he too was there…

 _Why don't you, then?_ the female voice whispered. _The sun has set long ago. You can go out without any danger._

Sai blinked. Hesitated. _So… who are you, anyway?_ he whispered back.

_I'm afraid I cannot tell you. My… host would rather not make my presence known. But I think you should slip out – carefully, don't startle him! – and go to the boy. I honestly thought you'd have done that by now. And if you can speak with him… or better yet, with the apprentice, tell her the summoning circle has to be drawn into the bottom of the pool._

_Summoning… circle?_

_To create the link to wherever all this water comes from. If you can break the circle, it would…_

_Break the circle!_ Sai exclaimed. _Didn't you just say it's in the bottom of that pool!_

 _Indeed_ , she said, tone serious. _I realize it isn't easy, but that's our best option. Fighting off all the ancient sea gods and monsters she must have summoned isn't something we can do._

Not easy, Sai thought to himself. More like impossible. _What if we just take her down?_

 _I agree that killing her would be best,_ she stated so calmly that Sai felt a little chilled. _But that is unlikely to happen, for various reasons._

_Those being?_

She sighed. _My host and his apprentice cannot use magic to kill her. It is against the Laws – and they if any can't afford the slightest violation right now. I'm afraid this sorceress_ _has no such qualms. As for the Holy Knight… he would tell you his job is saving, not for killing._

_Dropping a ceiling on someone doesn't qualify as trying to kill her with magic?_

This time she chuckled. _What can I say, he is reckless like that. But even if she dies, that would not destroy the circle, and we would still have to deal with these monsters._

_Does Dresden know of the circle?_

_He should. I'll talk to him – if he listens to me. …one more reason for you to go. He's likelier to speak with me when there are no eavesdroppers._

_Yes, uh, I… I understand._ Feeling for some reason a little embarrassed he still hesitated for a short moment, but nodded then. Slip out. Carefully.

How?

 _Just walk away_ , she whispered, and he wondered if he'd asked that question aloud.

All the same. He happened to catch a glimpse of Hikaru and took a deep a deep breath. Just walk. Go to the boy. And with that thought he was walking across the floor toward the boy who was huddling near his parents as far from the pool as he had managed to get them.

Sai glanced back as he walked, and saw Dresden facing the sorceress who was enveloped in white, cold light that was so bright it was almost painful to look at. He paused to see what was going on, but right then something swooshed down over him, making him flinch. Looking up he saw the stingray rising up again, and shot a panicked glance around. Where was Michael? He couldn't see the knight anywhere. A moment he feared the stingray had got the man, but then he realized it was the opposite. There was a small form clinging to the stingray's back. At first he couldn't understand how the man was holding on, but realized then he had struck his sword into the back of the creature, and was hanging onto it.

Sai grinned. The stingray was hardly yet dead, but the way it was struggling was promising. He couldn't see Molly either, but that didn't surprise him. What he did see was one of the gunmen lying on the ground, unmoving, and the two remaining ones standing back to back, their eyes frantically following something he didn't see. As for Mouse, the dog was pacing back and forth at the water's edge, attention focused on a great shadow gliding right underneath the surface. Sai paused to stare at it. A whale? There was something odd about its shape, but that was the only thing big enough he could think of; the creature nearly filled the whole pool. His grin widened.

A whale wouldn't be able to get out of the pool, and it was blocking the way from other creatures that might be coming.

Relieved, he concluded that they really were doing well enough, and besides, shouldn't the police be arriving soon, too? He couldn't be sure exactly how long had passed – most likely not nearly as long as what it felt like, but even so half an hour just had to be up already. He turned and ran to the boy.

 _Hikaru! I'm back! Are you alright?_ He attempted to grab the boy into tight hug, but his hands went right through him. Hikaru kept on staring at the fight scene, eyes unblinking, forehead wrinkled, all body tense and ready spring up as he crouched next to his mother.

 _Hikaru?_ Sai waved his hand in front of the boy's face. No reaction.

Biting down a sigh he stepped back. No, this wouldn't do. He couldn't be this close and not get in. He closed his eyes. Bob and Dresden had spoken of their connection so convincingly he couldn't believe it wouldn't exist. He silenced the little voice that pointed out he hadn't been able to feel Hikaru's presence when they arrived to this place. He had, in the end, known the right direction…

…and there was the same warmth in front of him which he had felt in the corridor, the same light, soft and welcoming, like the heat of glowing embers in a brass pot, warming his bones on a chilly January night when he returned home from a long day at the palace, from countless games and mean-spirited intrigue, and…

He blinked, cut off the memory and reached for the heat, and with just that he was home.

 _But no home is for forever_ , a thought passed his mind. He pushed it aside too.

 _Hikaru_ , he whispered, and the boy fell flat on his back out of sheer surprise.

"Sai!" he exclaimed, quickly gathering himself back to his feet. "Are you, is it really, are you really back?"

He threw his arms around the boy and this time got hold. _Yes, yes, I am, Hikaru_ , he replied, laughing out loud. _I'm so sorry I lost you! I've been so worried, are you alright? …Hikaru?_ Are _you alright?_

The boy was crying. Shoulders shaking, tears flowing freely he just stood there, sobbing aloud.

 _Hey, Hikaru…_ Sai gave the boy another hug. _Shh, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I'm here, we're all here, and we'll fix this. I'm sorry I…_

 _N-no_ , the boy cut him off, hiccupping even in his thoughts. _I'm sorry, I'm_ so _sorry, I've been an idiot and I don't want to lose you and, and don't ever go away again!_ He nailed his teary eyes to the stunned ghost. "Sai! Promise me you won't ever go away!"

 _I… I can't promise something like that_ , Sai replied quietly. _It's not… in my hands. But, Hikaru_ , he went on as the boy took a shaky breath and looked like he was about to object to that, quite vehemently. _Listen, remember the circle the onmyouji drew on ground when doing the tracking spell? Apparently there's something like that in the bottom of the pool, and if we can destroy it, this will end._

Hikaru stared at him a moment as if not understanding what he was talking about. Then he looked at the pool, shaking his head. "In the pool? We can't go in there!"

_I know that! But still, this isn't going bad, I think soon we'll have the situation on hand and then we…_

"Situation in hand?" Hikaru muttered. "Are we watching the same scene?"

Sai blinked and turned to look back just in time to see Michael being flung down. The man hit the floor hard and took a moment to gather himself up. Sai gave a frightened gasp when he saw the sword falling right at the edge of the pool; he had been sure it had been about to fall into the water. He looked at the fighting wizards and saw that the white glow surrounding the sorceress had spread so it now enveloped also Dresden. Sai couldn't tell what the man was doing, but it seemed he was struggling just to keep standing. Of Molly there was still no sight, but he saw with a frightened start that the men had turned their attention to Hikaru and were approaching the boy slowly from the other side of the pool. The pool, which…

He swallowed.

"The water," Hikaru whispered. "It's rising."

There was already an inch of water on the floor, overflowing from the foamy pool, and it was rising quickly. As Sai watched a huge serpent struck out from the pool, splashing the water high as it fell on the wet floor. Mouse was between it and them, growling and ready to jump, but as the dog faced the serpent, the crab-octopus pulled itself on the floor as well, and something… something he could have sworn had an elephant's head flashed quickly on the surface.

Hikaru swore, quite vividly, but Sai was too stunned to even notice. The boy grasped his mother and pulled her to sit against the wall, and did then the same to his father. Then he rushed to the eldest couple and started to drag the man to the wall as well.

"If the water rises more they can't be lying down!" he yelled at Sai. "I gotta get them all up!"

Sai nodded, but his attention was elsewhere. Now the men were walking more briskly toward the boy, guns in hand.

_Hikaru! Those gunmen…_

The boy glanced at them and swore again. _Damn! There's no time for this!_ He grasped the next two people at the same time and started dragging them both toward the wall. _We're screwed,_ he thought glumly to Sai. _We're so, so,_ so _scre…_

A bright flash of light cut the boy off. There was a rip in the world, a tear that reminded Sai of the time Dresden had taken them to the Nevernever. For a short moment he wished for reinforcements, perhaps more _onmyouji_ were coming to join them in the battle, but then ghouls started pouring out of the rip, and he froze.

"What. The. Hell," Hikaru said aloud, staring at the sigh frozen to his place.

Same was true for everyone else; for a moment no one moved, even the sea monsters paused, turning their attention to the still incoming ghouls.

Five, eight, twelve… Sai closed his eyes, wearily, not wanting to count them. He didn't anymore have any idea what was going on, but he felt he could really agree with Hikaru's assessment of the situation, although he rarely used such words.

 _Screwed indeed_ , he whispered quietly.

The last ghoul came in, but unlike he would have expected, they attacked no one, just stood in line waiting. A heartbeat later a man walked in, or at least Sai assumed it was a man, for he was dressed in long black robes and hooded cape that covered his face completely.

"Cowl," he heard Dresden's exasperated voice. "Why am I not even surprised?"

The newcomer gave a little laugh. "I must admit I am, though just slightly. I would have assumed you would do better here. Lucky for you I arrived when I did, it seems."

"You want me to believe you came to help?" Dresden all but snarled.

"I came to stop her," the man stated calmly. "We do have the same goal, as you see." He glanced at the serpent and the crabtopus, waved his hand toward them, and two flashes of black lightning struck through the air, hitting the beasts and making them shriek in pain. Black smoke rising from them they both dove right back into the water.

"You have nerve," the woman said quietly. The white light was gone, but her eyes, fixed to the hooded man, were bright and sharp, unblinking. "You have nerve to strike at these creatures so. I told you not to get involved, as you refused to help."

"Did you really expect I wouldn't," the man replied, at the same time as Dresden exclaimed, "You two know each other?"

"That should be my question," the woman said, glancing at him. "What did you call him again, Cowl?" She smiled a little. "As good a name as any, I guess."

"I've had the displeasure," Dresden muttered. He had moved slowly across the room so that he was standing nearly as far from the sorceress and Cowl – and between them and Hikaru and the sleeping people. "And no offense, but a Nazgul-wannabe's not the kind of cavalry I'd prefer."

"Good thing no one's asking you," Cowl remarked without so much as a glance at him. "Lanu," he said to the woman, "time to end this. For old times' sake I will let you go…"

"Let me go?" she cut him off with a laugh. "You truly believe I would stop here just because you popped in with your brutes? You never were a fool, don't start now." The cold brightness of her eyes intensified, spreading slowly all over her as if her very body was shining. "I've come way too far to stop!"

While she was speaking Dresden glanced at Hikaru, and nodded slightly at the remaining people lying by the pool. The boy didn't notice, as the hooded figure – and the ghouls – had all his attention.

 _Hikaru,_ Sai whispered. _I think he wants… hey, Hikaru? Do you hear me?_ The boy didn't react, and he went closer, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. _Hikaru!_ Now the boy gave a start and glanced at him. _The water is still rising, I think you should continue what you were doing._

Hikaru nodded and splashed to the next couple with a nervous glance at the ghouls, and dragged them to the wall. Michael, having again collected his sword, sprang to aid him. Sai turned back to follow the discussion with a frown. Apparently their connection still wasn't quite back to what it had been. Only when Dresden started talking again he realized something more: he still understood it all.

"And what is it you're planning to accomplish with all this?" Dresden was asking, having turned back to the woman.

"A new world order," Cowl put in, something akin to contempt in his voice.

"You're one to talk," she snorted. "After the spectacular fail of your plans… ah." She looked at Dresden. "I have not been paying attention. It was you who stopped him, wasn't it?"

The wizard gave a bow. "Rightly concluded, ma'am. And now it's your turn. But you haven't still answered my question."

Cowl gave a sigh. "She is waking the old gods of sea all over the world, giving them strength, and raising the oceans to a new great flood."

Dresden blinked. "Okay, what the hell? Are we filming the Call of Crabtopus or what…? Just one little question: why?"

"Out of sheer inability to accept the fact that the world has changed," Cowl replied with a shrug, and she bristled.

"And why should I accept this change?" The white light danced again around her, sparkled as tiny flashes of lightning at her fingertips. "Look at the world that was given to our care! I have watched, through centuries I have watched the spread of our plague on this world, and no longer will I take it. A new world order you say – no, an old one, truly. In my youth, the world was as it should be. Then the Westerners arrived, and within a century and a half, they had turned everything upside down, and a civil war raged in my homeland. I should have acted then – I did, raising the cyclone that brought an end to the standoff, but I was foolish enough to listen to the Council who claimed we should not meddle.

"A fool," she spat again. "Thousand times a fool. I should have acted long before. 'It is wrong for us to manipulate the politics of mortals'… _hah_. Ask some day, if you survive this, if Listens-to-Wind still thinks so, and doesn't regret not using his powers to 'meddle' to save _his_ people."

"Yeah, well, I'm the last to start defending Council's policies to anyone. But I kinda fail to see how trying to raise a real life Cthulhu would save the world."

"It might be because you confuse saving the world with saving humanity," the woman replied with a tight, maybe a little sad smile. "Which is not to say this wouldn't, in the long run, help also…"

"Enough with this chitchat," Cowl cut her off with an impatient gesture. "We've been through it all before, and my mind hasn't changed. One last time: are you backing off or not?"

She merely gave him a quiet look, and he nodded. Pointed with his hand toward the sleeping people. "Kill them."

Sai gave a frightened gasp, but Dresden clearly had been expecting something of the sort. "Forzare!" he exclaimed as the horde of ghouls rushed at him, toward the sleepers behind his back. A quick spin of his staff sent three of the ghouls flying, but the majority of them charged past him. "Can't say I'm surprised about this either, Darth Bathrobe," he snarled as he spun around.

"Defend them!" the sorceress called out to him. "I will deal with him!"

"Yeah, defend them from the ghouls so that you can feed them to your monsters, gotcha," the man muttered. "Michael!" he called, reaching his friend who was cutting down his third ghoul, "How about asking for a tiny miracle? Like those two taking each other down?"

Michael didn't waste breath for a reply. Mouse joined the two men as well, taking down one ghoul in a huge leap, and together they turned to face the attackers…. attackers who were still more numerous than Sai cared to count. Even with the two remaining guards joining the battle he was uncertain of which way it would go. Bullets seemed to do little to stop the ghouls, and of the defenders, only Mouse seemed to be in full strength. Michael had a slight limp, possibly after his fall, and the wizard seemed simply weary, his blasts not having their usual power.

Sai shot a worried look toward the corner where Hikaru was huddling with his parents, a little apart from others, and gave a frightened gasp. They were all gone. Then he paused, closed his eyes and concentrated. No… the warmth that was the boy was still there, although he couldn't see him. Perhaps Molly had joined them? He hoped so, and was about to go to check it, when a huge blast behind him made him startle.

The serpent was back, rising from the pool like a dark arrow toward the ceiling before falling on the floor, momentarily drowning the nearby guards in a splash of water. It had barely hit the floor before it was wriggling its way toward the sleepers, throwing ghouls aside as it went, head rising for a strike.

"Defendarius!" Dresden called out, and the serpent hit a wall of blue energy, recoiling with an angry hiss. Before it could attempt another attack, a dark lightning hit it again, and it squirmed in the water in apparent pain, but didn't retreat to the pool this time.

"Stop wasting your strength!" Cowl called at the fighters from the other side of the pool, where he was fending off both the woman and the stingray. "The simplest way to stop her is to destroy the sacrifice! Surely that is a lesser evil than allowing her to succeed?"

"Lesser evil my ass," Dresden mumbled, though probably too quietly for Cowl to hear, and blasted another ghoul all the way into the pool.

Sai turned away and hurried to the corner where he knew Hikaru to be. He still couldn't see the boy, but he could feel him now, and headed straight to that feeling, until he literally bumped into Hikaru.

"Sai!" the boy exclaimed aloud.

"Shh!" someone shushed him sharply. Glancing around Sai saw Molly crouching next to the boy. The girl looked even worse than the wizard, her breath quick and uneven, face strained in concentration.

 _Sai!_ Hikaru exclaimed again, now soundlessly. _Where did you go! Molly claimed she could see you there but I couldn't! Why did you leave like that again?_

_I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen. But listen, Hikaru… listen! This isn't time to panic. We have to do something!_

_What?_ the boy asked in desperate tone. _That's a real mess out there. I don't even anymore know who's the real enemy here. And Molly…_ he glanced at the girl, _I think she's totally wasted, she can't do much anymore._

 _Yes, but…_ Sai watched the battle raging in the room, feeling the desperation seep over him too. True. What _could_ they do?

 _You said there's… some magic circle in the bottom of that pool?_ Hikaru asked thoughtfully. Sai gave a startled nod, and the boy frowned. _I guess it's the only thing we could try._

Cold fear crept into Sai's heart. _Hikaru… you can't possibly think you could…_

The boy snorted. _I don't. But you're right, we have to do something. And maybe…_ "Molly," he whispered aloud. "Can you, uh… _I go, you veil me?_ "

" _What?_ " The girl gave him a weary look. " _Where you'd go?_ "

Hikaru pointed toward the pool. " _You veil me, monster not see._ "

The girl looked where he pointed, the lines on her forehead deepening. " _No,_ " she whispered. " _I don't know what you're planning, but no, I'm sorry. I can't. All this water… it's making this even harder. I can't veil both us and you._ "

Hikaru frowned.

 _She said she can't veil both your parents and you if you leave_ , Sai whispered. Now the boy blinked.

_How did you understand that much? Nah, never mind. Damn. How will I get there without…_

A door banged open. Four figures appeared through it, uniformed, the first of them a small blond woman with a gun in her hand. Before Sai could even realize the police finally were there, Hikaru jumped to his feet. _Stay with me now, Sai!_ he called out and sprang toward the four.

For a moment Sai couldn't move from his horror. He saw a ghoul spot the running boy and leap after him, wide mouth torn into an impossible grin, saw the blond woman raise her gun and take aim, pull the trigger once, twice, three times… until the ghoul staggered and fell down, and didn't move again.

Hikaru had paused and looked back with wide eyes. Sai rushed to him just in time to hear the woman saying calmly, "I told you they can be killed with enough bullets." She nodded her head toward Hikaru. "O'Toole, take the kid out of here."

 _She told the men to take you out_ , Sai whispered.

"No!" Hikaru exclaimed. He spun to face the female officer – Murphy, Sai finally remember her hard-to-pronounce name. The boy pointed toward the pool. " _We… have to… go… there,_ " he said with apparent effort. " _Stop. Stop…this._ "

Murphy gave him a frowning look. Shot then a glance across the room, taking the ghouls, the fighting wizards and the stingray, and the crabtopus that was currently creeping out from the foaming pool. For a moment her expression was unreadable. Then she nodded. "To the pool. Move it!"

They ran to the pool's edge, guns ready in hand, and paused there. Hikaru looked down into the foaming water. There was something big swimming in circles in there, something whale-like but with a head of an elephant. Hikaru swallowed.

 _Sai… I can't_ see _the bottom. Only the sea floor. How can I find the circle if I can't even find the bottom!_

 _I can see it,_ Sai replied, very quietly. He could see the sea as well, the shapes of coral, but above it, like a mirage, the cracked bottom of the pool. And yes, a circle drawn onto it. _I can see the circle. It's right there._ He went closer to the boy, inside, into his familiar consciousness. _There_. He pointed with his fan. _Can't you see it?_

 _Ye…_ Hikaru started to say, but was cut short by shots. They looked up with a start and saw the stingray – apparently the sorceress had spotted them by the pool and sent her pet to chase them away.

"Why are we here!" Murphy yelled as she aimed a new series of shots at the sea creature. "If you're gonna do something, do it now!"

Hikaru took a deep breath and looked down into the pool.

 _Susanoo-o-mikoto_ , he thought, _help me survive this and I swear I'll do a pilgrimage to Yasaka Shrine and offer you… whatever you most like being offered._

 _What are you…_ Sai started to ask, but at that moment the boy dove in.

Sai gave a startled shriek. _Hikaru, what, no you can't…!_

_Shut up Sai! There was a part where the bottom's cracked, help me find that!_

The boy kicked with his feet and they glided downward through the water. Sais' eyes scanned the bottom, panic swelling in his chest. He couldn't help being aware of the huge form on their side, approaching swiftly, but then he heard muffled shots, and saw the form squirm and slow down.

The circle. Concentrate on the circle. And then he saw it, the part the boy had talked about, where the bottom tiles were cracked, and the circle was drawn right over the crack. _There!_ he exclaimed, and Hikaru spotted it too, kicking strongly with his feet. They reached the bottom. For one frightening moment Sai feared Hikaru's hand would go through it as he reached down, but the boy managed to grasp the crack. He clawed at it, trying to get a hold, and a tiniest bit of tile came off, breaking the line of the circle.

For a moment everything was so quiet they could only hear the blood humming in Hikaru's ears. Then the water was gone, and the boy was left sprawled on the dry and dirty pool floor.

They lay there, staring up at the stunned faces of the police officers. There was a loud shriek, and the four suddenly disappeared from the view. Another shout, ghoul-like, growling of a big dog.

 _I'll take a look, be right back,_ Sai whispered to Hikaru, not wanting to frighten the boy by disappearing again. Hikaru didn't even blink at his words, and a moment he hesitated, but decided then they had to know what was going on.

He rose up from the pool to see Murphy attempting to, most likely, arrest Cowl, who simply disappeared into another tear in reality, thankfully taking the rest of the ghouls with him. There was no sign of the sorceress. The monsters were gone, all water was gone, and everyone seemed to be, well, at least alive, if not totally unscarred.

Dresden was looking across the hall, as if searching for something. Then his gaze stopped on Sai, and he limped to the pool. Sai winced. If the man had been somewhat beaten up before, this battle had not helped. In addition to his limp he had gained a cut across his forehead that was bleeding over his swollen eye, giving him an even wilder look than before.

The wizard stopped at the pool's edge, looking down at the boy.

"I bet she didn't," he said after a short silence, and sat down, exhausted.

Sai blinked, confused, and turned to look down as well. On the wall of the pool, right behind where Hikaru was lying, there were pictures of delicate white fishes. Next to them someone had scribbled a graffiti.

_Mama never told me there'd be days like this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The standoff refers to the so-called Samoan Crisis, which was a standoff between USA, Imperial Germany, and the UK, 1887–1889, over the control of the Samoan islands during the Samoan civil war. It ended in a cyclone which wrecked six out of the seven warships involved.
> 
> And if you looked at the Edgewater hospital photos in the previous chapter ([here](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Photos-Show-Inside-Abandoned-Edgewater-Hospital-408560385.html)'s the link again), I made a couple of changes (artistic freedom): for one, the room with the swimming pool is a lot bigger (and so is the pool), and two, I placed that ending graffiti into the pool instead of whatever random place it is where it was (showers, maybe? That just was such a neat pic I had to get it in there somehow. It's the 42nd pic, btw, so you need to scroll down quite a lot for it.) Maybe my swimming hall is a bit too fancy for a hospital, but whatever. Artistic freedom, as I said. ^^


	12. Chapter 11b

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what, I lied! This isn't the last chapter, but basically what happened in the previous chapter from Dresden's pov. I'd originally been planning to have Sai stay with him longer, and so I ended up having to leave some stuff out. So I thought I might as well write it all out into a small chapter of its own.

**Chapter 11b**

I didn't notice the ghost had slipped away before I saw him walking across the swimming hall turned to a battle field. I nearly froze at the sight, which is not a smart thing to do during a battle, magical or not, as a blast of force I just barely dodged reminded me.

I wasn't using my Sight. I sure as hell better not be using it, in a place like this – I had enough nightmare visions stored permanently in my mind to last for every night no matter however long a wizard like me might live… ("Like _you_?" I could all but hear Murphy's voice put in flatly. "Not too long.") …didn't need more of them.

_Concentrate, my host_ , a voice continued in my mind, and I blinked, momentarily confused, before grimacing. Not Murphy, that one. Although quite right in this instant. Time to wonder about the ghost later, before Murph's prediction would come all too true.

The good thing about me being distracted was that it had distracted my opponent as well. She had clearly noticed me noticing something, and it was bothering her. Now, better keep her busy so she wouldn't notice the ghost, who might… well, I couldn't really think of any way a go-playing, overly emotional ghost might prove himself useful in this situation, but hey, he'd surprised me before.

_I sent the ghost to take a message to the boy,_ the whispers went on, as I sent another blast of fire toward the woman, rolling aside from her reply of pure white light. She wasn't dodging mine, just stood there calmly, letting her shield absorb my attacks.

Now, there's a thought I should have had myself. _What message?_ I asked.

_About the summoning circle that must lie at the bottom of the pool. He can, perhaps, tell your apprentice about it._

I sure hoped Molly wouldn't be foolish enough to dive in there, imagining she'd be able to keep up her veil in the water. Straightening from my roll I gave the woman a slow look. This wasn't working out – I was exhausted to begin with and she… clearly had more power than I'd have wished for.

_Certainly. This woman is strong enough to be a senior council member,_ my unwanted companion informed me, and I grimaced. Just peachy.

I glanced at the pool and saw that the crabtopus had retreated for now, and Mouse was keeping an eye on something else that swam just underneath the surface. Michael… seemed to be bumming a ride on the stingray. As for Molly, she was nowhere to be seen, which was exactly as it was supposed to be. That left me and…

…the woman who had started to glow a white light. I'd no clue what that was about, but I sure didn't like it.

_As you shouldn't. Why don't you let me help you out here, my host?_

_Was that a rhetorical question or do you really expect me to answer it?_

_You need help to stop her, and to save all these people – not to mention so many others. If you just would…_

_No. No deals._ I looked straight at the woman, even though the light enveloping her was nearly too bright to look at. "So all these people are just a lure to calling sea monsters from all over the world?" Get her talking. Maybe she'd slip something. Or be distracted. Or have a change of heart and start a seaworld business instead of an apocalypse and we could all go home and sleep for a week. Wouldn't that be nice.

…okay. Focus. What were you saying? Right, her plans. "That's it? The master plan to take over the world?"

"Of course not," she said with a ghost of a smile. "That question only shows how ignorant you are of what is really going on here – or what is at stake if I fail."

"Oh? Like, 16 people not being devoured by sea monsters? A 14-year-old boy not being orphaned? Yeah, right. Just about awful."

Her face lost the slightest trace of any emotion, turning into a blank mask. "As I said, you are ignorant, and there is no reason to enlighten you anymore at this point. Just don't presume you would understand my motivations, or what sacrifices I am making."

Couldn't help snorting at that as I circled around her, at the same time trying to take a look on how things were going for others. "Grand words. Easy for you to talk of sacrifices – don't see any of your relatives lying there." Good, there was Molly – okay, so I didn't see her, but I saw well enough the reactions her illusions were getting from the gunmen. Michael… was still hanging in there, literally at the moment. I caught only a glimpse of him as the stingray he was riding spiraled downward.

"Little you know. What happens here tonight isn't easy for me to do – but it will change the world. Yes, some will die for it… so that others would live. Isn't that the way it has always been?"

Okay, she was talking, alright, but saying nothing but general bullshit. As if she only wanted to stall. Let time pass. And if she really was that powerful, she clearly wasn't going all out at me. Why? I gave her a sharp look. What _was_ that light around her?

She met my gaze without looking me into eyes – a neat trick any practitioner would know, to avoid the soulgaze. "Yes," she said quietly. "You are forcing me to improvise. But I can still make it work, even if this will be rushed, and with your limited knowledge…"

"Is that I-know-more-than-thee talk an obligatory part of being a wizard? Cause if it is, I missed the memo."

The light. It shone around her like a veil of…

I glanced down, and saw that the floor was covered in an inch of water. How the hell hadn't I noticed that before?

I looked at the woman, standing in the water, water that shone that same light that enveloped her, and I realized it wasn't light around her, but a thin veil of water, reflecting the light. Whatever it was she was doing, she'd been doing all the time, through that water.

She looked at me, nodded, and with a little movement of her hand raised that veil of water around me, too.

A freaking water mage? Water's the trickiest of the elements. By its nature it disperses magical energy. Flowing water is the worst, but even this might yet put a serious dent in my magic, especially if the water level kept rising.

The veil's brightness intensified until it was nearly unbearable. It made it difficult to see through it, I could only barely distinguish the woman's shape outside of it. I could feel the exhaustion of the previous day and the way too short night creep on me, and stumbled. It wouldn't be all bad, just to float in the water and close my eyes for a moment, would it…

Hell. Needed to get out of here. Fire. That's my thing. I gathered all my will as well as I could and prepared to call fire. Let's see if I couldn't evaporate this veil soon enough.

And that was when things went from amazingly messy to spectacularly screwed-up.

⋆

"Defend them!" I heard the sorceress calling as I hit a handful of ghouls with a quick forzare. "I will deal with him!"

"Yeah, defend them from the ghouls so that you can feed them to your monsters, gotcha," I muttered. Just how fucked-up can a day be?

Good thing Michael was there already, between the ghouls and the kidnapped people. "How about asking for a tiny miracle?" I yelled at him, reaching his side. "Like those two taking each other down?"

He gave me a Look and said nothing. Figures. _A holy knight_ could _be entitled to a miracle now and then,_ I thought to myself, but never mind that now. Mouse was already by my side. Molly and the kid had disappeared, having finished propping the sleeping people up against the wall. Just as good. Water or no bloody water, us three _would_ be enough to make this bunch regret crawling out of their stinking caves.

The gunmen as well joined us, but seriously, you'd think she'd have got herself people actually trained to fight the uncanny. A single bullet does little to stop a ghoul, as they were soon finding out. Well, at least we had a common enemy now – though better to remember that if they were still standing once the ghouls were gone, they'd turn those guns to us.

Goddamn Cowl. I knew the moment he appeared things would go straight to Hell. Nice to see you can count on some people.

…Cowl… and a bunch of ghouls. Was he the one who'd sent them? Trying to get his hands on the kid in order to… track his parents and so the woman? Intervene in some other way? No matter what, one thing was sure; the kid was lucky not to have ended in his hands.

Three of the ghouls were aiming straight at me, the one in the lead a prime specimen of its kind, what with its face currently consisting mainly of a gaping maw. Couldn't help noticing the meat stuck between its teeth. Nor smelling it, unfortunately.

I planted my feet firmly against the floor, raised my staff, and right when the beast made a leap at me, waved with it upward, calling " _Tornarius!_ " Its own momentum turned against it, the ghoul plummeted backward, hitting its two followers. They slid back on the wet floor, but not as far or with as much strength as I'd hoped for. Turning the enemy's own force against him takes less energy than just hitting them head on, but apparently all this was really beginning to take its toll on me.

I had any way gained a moment's break, and glanced toward Cowl and the woman, shit, what had he called her? Not Luna, definitely… damn, I shouldn't let names slip my mind like that. Though I doubt it was her real name. Whatever the relationship between those two, I bet Cowl wouldn't be giving me info like that for free.

She was once again enveloped in that shining veil of water, reflecting with obvious ease the attacks Cowl aimed at her, but I couldn't really see her doing much attacking at all. I had no time to wonder on that though, for at that instant the serpent decided to return, rising from the pool in a huge blast. It went through the ghouls as if they even weren't there, and I had just in time a shield up to stop it from striking at the sleepers. A black lightning struck at it, and it retreated again.

"Stop wasting your strength!" I heard Cowl calling. "The simplest way to stop her is to destroy the sacrifice! Surely that is a lesser evil than allowing her to succeed?"

"Lesser evil my ass," I mumbled, and blasted another ghoul this time all the way into the pool where it disappeared with a shriek that was cut satisfyingly short. But yeah, this wasn't going to work out in the long run. There were more dead ghouls than living now, I was sure of it, but the crabtopus was crawling out of the pool, and I bet it was only a matter of time when other things would join it. And the water just kept on rising, and I could feel its wear on my magic more and more strongly, all the time.

Right then a door banged open. Four figures appeared through it, uniformed, the first of them a very familiar small blond woman with a gun in her hand. Murphy. Now that's the real cavalry for you. I'd all but forgotten they were coming – though I wasn't sure if it was for the good or the bad that they were here now. Though they sure would be more efficient than these gunmen we had, one of whom was lying in the water – ouch, face down, I realized only now – and the other, out of ammunition, basically hiding behind our backs.

I was just about to call out to her when I saw movement in the corner of my eye. The kid was running across the freaking battle field, water splashing high as he went toward Murph and others. A ghoul spotted him, the very same I'd just spun through the air with the help of its own velocity, and turned to pursue. I pointed my staff at it, but before I could get my mouth open another ghoul threw itself at my face, very nearly taking out my eye as I fell backward to dodge it. There was a flash of silver – Michael's sword – and the ghoul was in two pieces on the floor. Rapid series of shots echoed in the air, and I gathered myself up to see Murphy emptying her gun into the attacking ghoul.

I watched the ghoul go down in front of the stunned boy who had stopped to look back. That's Murphy for you. Whoever came up with the phrase 'little but fierce' must have… no, they can't have known her or they'd never dared to put 'little' in there.

I had no time to keep watching what happened next, for the remaining ghouls redoubled their efforts, but at least the kid was now in Murphy's care. If everything else was going to hell, at least she'd get him out of this situation.

That's what I thought, anyway, until I saw them standing by the pool and the kid diving in.

What. The. Hell.

I saw Murphy and one of his men, O'Toole was it, firing into the pool while others aimed at the stingray that was attacking them. Yet another ghoul came at me, I hit it down, but couldn't tear my eyes away from the pool. The circle? That idiot boy couldn't possibly think he might…

…there was a shriek that was nearly painful to hear, and at that moment the water simply disappeared. Even my wet clothes were dry again. The monsters were gone with it, too, just like that.

A ghoul made still a surge, growling – Mouse stopped it, growling louder. Cowl said a word, too quiet for me to hear, and the ghouls fell back.

Seriously, what the hell. Even if the circle was broken, it shouldn't have canceled everything just like that. The summoned monster, at the very least, should still be here.

_All things considered, shouldn't you just be happy they're gone?_

I had no time to answer that, for Murphy walked briskly to me. "Harry. What is going on?"

What _was_ going on? How the hell was I supposed to know that? I blinked. Then, suddenly, face to face with her, I remembered something. "Oh, right." She gave me a questioning look. "It's Shakespeare. 'Though she be but little, she is fierce.' How did I forget that?"

The look she gave me was a very interesting mixture of annoyance, exasperation, and concern. "You," she stated in a calm, level voice, "are even more out of it than usual. Just tell me who's the kidnapper. And hey, you might want to sit down."

Sitting down was out of question. I wasn't sure I'd get up again. "That…" I blinked. Where was the woman? My eyes scanned the hall, but there was no trace left of her. Cowl was still there, though, and I saw the ghost rising up from the pool. Some level of my brain took notice of that with relief – if the kid were hurt, the ghost wouldn't be that calm.

"Where the hell is she?" I said aloud.

"You mean she's gone?" Murphy said with a frown. "What about him? Who's he?" She gestured toward Cowl with a look that clearly stated he was just moments away from having his rights read to him. I'd like to say Murph's just got good intuition about people, but dressing like an evil Sith overlord wasn't really helping Cowl's case.

Not that it needed help. He didn't bother saying anything, just waved his hand, and he and all his remaining ghouls were gone through another portal before anyone could react.

Murphy didn't spend time staring after him. She waved at her men, who arrested the one remaining guard and headed to check the condition of the people still fast asleep. I saw Michael in a corner with the kid's parents and Molly who was leaning heavily on her father. I'd have to check on her soon, what with her being my apprentice and all, but first things first.

I walked to the edge of the pool where the ghost was still floating – still stubbornly visible to me against all sense – and looked down. The kid lay there, by the edge of a circle drawn into the bottom tiles. It was a complicated structure, that circle, and I'd have to study it more carefully later, but now my eyes were drawn on a graffiti someone had drawn on the wall of the pool, right behind where the kid was lying.

_Mama never told me there'd be days like this._

I watched the kid a short moment in silence as he slowly began to gather himself up. "I bet she didn't," I sighed then, and sat finally down, deciding how I'd get up again was going to be somebody else's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Been a while, but I had two persistent typos in this chapter: sigh instead of sight, and stuff instead of staff.
> 
> I wasn't using my Sigh. (Well, not yet at that point, maybe.) I raised my stuff/pointed my stuff… etc. (I sure am using my sigh here.)
> 
> (2) About water magic, I came across an interesting quote about it by Butcher himself: "There's water magic all /over/ the place, but part of its nature is that it flows in accord with the natural world, permeates it, and doesn't call attention to itself. Harry uses water magic all the time without realizing it, as do the Alphas, and Listens-to-Wind is probably the premier water mage of the White Council."
> 
> Uses water magic all the time without realizing it? Now I'm curious of exactly what that means.


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough. >_> But here it is, finally, the real last chapter.
> 
> Thank you very much everyone, for reading and your comments!

**Epilogue**

Five days had passed. It had taken one whole day to get the kidnapped people awake, and three more days before the doctors agreed to release Hikaru's parents from the hospital. During the fifth day Hikaru began to suspect they still should have stayed there – that would have at least given him a chance to escape his father's unending tirade full of indignant disbelief over this outrageous affair that _never_ could have happened in Japan. (Hikaru wasn't quite convinced of that – it seemed to him this could have easily happened just about anywhere in the world – but for once he kept his mouth shut.)

His father spent much of that day on the phone, while his mother sat quietly, lost and frightened look in her eyes. On the sixth day, one day before they would finally return to Japan, Molly came to bring the things Hikaru had left at her parents' home, and deliver an invitation for a dinner. Hikaru's father, frowning at her dyed hair and piercings, was about to decline, but now Mitsuko suddenly gave a start, as if waking up.

"Oh, aren't these the people who let Hikaru stay with them while we were… were… away? We should go to thank them."

And so they arrived at the Carpenters' house, Hikaru with a little embarrassed feelings – he had never told his parents just how short a while he had actually spent at that place. He had seen the many-colored car parked outside (and the look his father had given it), so it was no surprise for him that Dresden was there as well. His parents had of course heard of a PI who had been helping with the case, but hadn't seen him before. Hikaru couldn't help grinning at his parents' expressions as they met the man. His father wasn't short – for a Japanese man – but Dresden stood a full foot taller than him, and his mother practically shrank down at the mere sight of the wizard. A moment she looked like she would just want to flee from the place, but then they were practically overran by the children who rushed to greet Hikaru with happy shouts.

Charity ushered everyone in with calm and kind efficiency, and as they sat down, looking at Hikaru and the children playing on the floor with Dresden's giant dog, they finally relaxed. "Dogs really do remind their owners," Mitsuko whispered to her husband with a quiet laugh, and was deeply startled Dresden grinned at her, replying in perfect Japanese, "Come now, I'm not _that_ hairy."

Hikaru had worried that the dinner might turn quite awkward. His mother didn't really speak any English, and though his father certainly would manage, he wasn't quite sure how sociable either of them was feeling. It took one mouthful of Charity's stew to shake Mitsuko out of her stupor and get engaged in a lively discussion with Charity on the culinary arts, which Dresden ended up translating.

 _Maybe not knowing English isn't_ all _bad_ , Hikaru thought to Sai as he tuned out of that discussion, happy he didn't have to be the translator. A moment he tried to listen into his father's discussion with Michael, but it was too much work, and very soon he focused all his concentration on food – which he had to admit was delicious.

Sai just smiled a little at him and left the table. Hikaru froze for a moment, staring after him. Just after a few meters the ghost started fading and then disappeared completely. Hikaru was about to call him back, aloud, no matter what others would think of his sudden outburst, when he saw Mouse wag his tail and roll on his side, offering his stomach to be rubbed. He relaxed and took another bite. At least he knew where Sai was – but this had to be fixed. As it was, it was too easy for them to get separated.

"Talk with Dresden," Molly, who was sitting next to him, whispered to him with broken Japanese. She nodded a bit toward Mouse as Hikaru glanced at her, surprised. "You… Sai…" She brought her two hands together, locking the fingers, and Hikaru nodded.

He went on eating, watching the girl out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't yet said nearly anything to him, just sat there much more awkwardly than what he had expected from his parents. She saw his glance and looked shortly away, but turned then to the boy with a soft sigh.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I… I not you safe." She bowed her head. " _Moushiwake arimasen deshita._ "

Hikaru blinked at her polite apology. Then he laughed out loud. _Sai, heard that?_ He thought before he remembered Sai couldn't hear him at the moment. "Well, damn, the one time someone's apologizing like that to _me_ , he's not hearing it."

Molly was looking at him with a confused expression, and he forced himself to stop chuckling. "I'm very sorry as well, please do not trouble yourself," he managed to reply with a straight face, and Molly's confusion only deepened.

"…okay?" the girl asked, hesitant.

"Okay," Hikaru grinned at her. Yeah, maybe she hadn't been able to keep them safe in the Undertown, but in any case she had been a great help. _And_ she had kept his parents under the veil during the last battle, even though she had been completely exhausted by then. He remembered Michael carrying his daughter out when all was over, Molly lying in his arms nearly unconscious, and his grin faded away. "Thank you," he said with emphasis, and meant it.

Molly smiled at him, and they went on eating in silence.

After the dinner when they gathered into the living room Dresden finally managed to slip away from Charity and Mitsuko, as Molly (equipped with her dictionary) took his place. He nodded at Hikaru in the passing. The boy followed him quietly upstairs, into that little guestroom where he had been staying. On the table, next to the sewing machine, lay a white skull. Hikaru frowned at the sight, and even more at Sai's, quiet, _Oh, Bob._

 _Who's Bob?_ he thought back, but Sai just shifted a little and didn't reply.

"Listen," Dresden said, "it seems your connection isn't quite yet back to how it should be."

Hikaru and Sai both nodded. "Yeah, if Sai leaves me far enough, I can't see him anymore. It wasn't like that before."

"I, on the other hand, still can see him, though I shouldn't. So we've got to do something about that." He looked at the ghost. "Sai, if you'd enter the skull again for the time I work out the spell, first to severe our connection, then to connect you two again."

Hikaru watched with raised eyebrows as Sai floated into the skull. The ghost hadn't seemed to be at all surprised at the request, so apparently he had done something like this before. He had left it out when he had told Hikaru about what had happened after they were separated, and the boy made note to ask about it later.

Dresden placed the skull on a paper on which was drawn a complicated pattern. "This will take a moment," he said to Hikaru, who nodded and sat down on the floor, leaning against the door – just in case someone would come looking for them. He wasn't quite sure what his mother would think of this scene.

Dresden kept on muttering something, holding a hand on the skull, and Hikaru yawned. This kind of magic really was a tiny bit boring – though after all he had been through, boring was just fine. After a while he started to think of go problems just to pass time, but in the end, it didn't take that long for Dresden to be finished.

"Alright. Done. You can come out now."

Hikaru stood up eagerly, but nothing happened. Dresden frowned and glanced at the boy.

"Do you see him?" he asked the boy who shook his head. "Hey!" he tapped the skull lightly. "I said you can com…"

"Shhh!" someone hushed him. "He's thinking, boss. We're having a round of speed go."

"What?" Hikaru said, while Dresden groaned and rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

"I just want to see that this worked!" the man exclaimed. He shook his head, muttering something Hikaru couldn't hear under his breath. Then he glanced at Hikaru. "Knowing how focused your friend can get in a game, maybe it's best to wait until they're finished. Bob!" He knocked again on the skull. "When the game's over, send him to the kid. It's after sunset anyway, so he can come out without any danger, even if the spell didn't work."

"Bob," Hikaru said slowly. "Bob?"

Dresden heaved out a great sigh and turned to the boy. "I _told_ him to stay quiet, but no, I guess that's too much to be asked." He sighed again. "Well, whatever. No harm in you knowing, I guess. Bob's my aide, an air spirit, tied to the skull."

Hikaru blinked slowly. "Okay… And he's playing go? With Sai? Inside the skull?" His eyes widened even more. "Can I get in too?"

Now Dresden gave a little laugh. "Sorry, no. But hey, I was wanting to talk with you a bit." He sat down on the chair. Hikaru sat down, too, now on the bed, still staring at the skull with a baffled look.

"So, how are you doing?" Dresden asked, and the boy took a deep breath, finally tearing his eyes away from the skull.

"Okay, I guess. Considering," he replied quietly. "Mom's having nightmares," he added quietly.

"But you're not?"

He shook his head. "So far, no. Though I'm not sleeping too well. Keep on waking up. Good thing Sai's there…" His voice trailed off and his eyes returned to the skull. Then he turned back to the wizard. "Are you okay?" he asked. He remembered what the man had looked, sitting by the swimming pool, the very image of utter and complete exhaustion.

"Yeah, well, _I've_ had no trouble sleeping. Basically slept through the first two days."

"The way you, all of you, were fighting those monsters was beyond awesome." Hikaru shook his head. "I still can't believe you managed to keep everyone safe."

"There's two of us," Dresden grunted, shaking his head. "Ordinarily ghouls aren't too great a threat to me, these days, if I can go all out against them, but there…" He leaned back with a sigh. "Well, let's just say things can never be simple, can they?"

Hikaru shrugged, uncertain of what he meant. He gave the skull one more look, wondering what exactly was going on in there. Then he smiled a little. Sai… playing a game inside a skull. Why was he even surprised? No matter where he went, Sai would be playing go.

"You know," he said quietly, still watching the skull with a smile, "for a while there I really thought that all's lost, that it had been an awful mistake to go to that underground place. But it was the opposite, wasn't it?" His smile faded slowly away as he saw the look Dresden was giving him. "I mean… our luck… really turned, right? We found my parents and everyone else in time, and saved them…"

"Luck?" Dresden snorted. "Son, luck got nothing to do with it. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass." He paused, looked expectantly at Hikaru who was frowning at him, and sighed then. "Just a quote, forget it. Accurate, though. Don't ever count on Lady Luck, she's the most unladylike bitch there is. All ended well, true, but it doesn't make what you did any less stupid. You took an awful risk there. Not to mention the danger you put _Sai_ in."

"What?" Hikaru blinked, and gave little laugh. "But he's, he's dead already, you know! What could happen to him?"

Dresden gave him a long, steady look. "Well, he could be eaten by a wraith, for one thing. Or, if he hadn't been lucky enough to find my home in time, he would have dissolved at sunrise. That Sai you know would have been gone forever."

As Hikaru just stared at him not understanding, he leaned back with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "I told you once, didn't I? Ghosts aren't real people. They are an imprint the dying person left to the world, and consist merely of memories. The real Fujiwara no Sai who died a thousand years ago, his essence… call it a soul if you will, he has passed on. Don't ask me where, I'm just a simple wizard."

Hikaru glanced at the skull shaking his head slowly. "So you mean that, that Sai isn't… that can't be true! Sai is real!"

"I didn't say he isn't real, just that he isn't the original. Come now. Think of the alternative. That there would be someone running out there on the streets stripped down to his bare _soul_? And if something happened, he would be gone forever? Well… all things considered, this is _exactly_ what your friend was doing." He shook his head with a sigh. "All I'm saying is that you should take better care of your companion. Without you, or some other sanctum like the skull here," he tapped it again softly, "he is much more vulnerable than you seem to understand."

Hikaru swallowed, looking at the white skull. Sai had disappeared in there… to play go… with an air spirit. He shut his eyes for a moment, feeling suddenly a little dizzy. There was so much going on here that he didn't understand. So much he didn't _know_. He and Sai had been separated, just like that, and if it had happened once… who was to say it couldn't happen again?

He remembered waiting in that little room, all alone except for the sleeping Molly, not knowing if he would ever find Sai again. Say the wizard what he will, they _had_ been lucky this time. But on one thing he was right: there was no counting on mere luck.

Hikaru opened his eyes again, met the man's gaze. "You also said, back then when we met, that ghosts don't last forever," he said quietly. "That they need… a source of energy? Did you mean they can… die? Like, of old age or such?"

"I'm not an expert on ghosts, really," Dresden admitted. "Even so, your friend's quite extraordinary. It takes someone with a strong mind, with a great sense of self or purpose, to make a shade that would last for a thousand years and still maintain reason and individuality. _I_ would have said no ghost would last this long, so… I can't really make predictions of the future. I'm sorry," he said more softly, seeing the look the boy gave the skull. "I don't think you have any reason to worry about that yet, though. He appears to be in quite good… health, if one can say that of a ghost."

Hikaru nodded. "Maybe." He would need to talk about this with Sai. Make sure the ghost would tell him if anything was wrong right away. And he should do some research, perhaps. He would not let Sai just disappear again, ever.

He gave a start. An orange light flickered in one of the skull's eyes sockets, after a while a purple one lit in another, and before he knew it, Sai was standing in front of him.

He jumped to his feet. "Sai!"

Dresden gave a look around, and smiled then. "Good, I'm not seeing him anymore. Bob, you think it worked?"

"Of course it worked," a voice replied from the skull. "I did aid you with that spell, remember?"

"It _feels_ right," Hikaru muttered, hugging Sai. "All I can say."

 _So it does_ , Sai agreed with a little smile, petting his head. The boy looked up at him.

"So how did it go?" he asked eagerly. "The game? Is that spirit a good player?"

Sai coughed a little. _Well, yes. He is… quite excellent._

"Indeed I am, aren't I?" Bob sounded quite smug. "Just spit it out, why don't you?"

The ghost glanced at the skull and sighed. _He won_ , he said at the same time as Dresden asked, frowning, "Wait, did you win, Bob?"

"I sure did!" the skull exclaimed happily. "Shame I couldn't get him to bet on it, though…"

Sai gave a little shudder. _Thanks to the gods I didn't_ , he muttered.

"For real?" Hikaru stared at the skull with wide eyes. "That's amazing!"

"Amazing's my middle name, kid," Bob stated.

Dresden rolled his eyes. "You don't even have a surname, so." He gave the skull look. "Is that what you've been doing the past few days? Practicing go?"

"You think I'd need to…" the skull began, but cut himself off at Dresden's frown. "Well, it was one way to pass time while you were sleeping," Bob said then. "Given that you still haven't bought me the newest volume of…"

"You'll get it next week," Dresden snapped. He grasped the skull and pushed it into a bag that had been lying on the floor. "And now, _quiet_."

"Aye, sahib," came quietly from the bag as he pulled the zipper close.

 _Thank you for the game_ , Sai said, pending over the bag. _It was quite inspirational._ He turned to Hikaru as he straightened. _I'll have to show it to you soon! He made some unbelievable moves._

Hikaru grinned at the excitement in Sai's voice. _Can't wait!_

"I think it's about time for us to return to the others before they think you're kidnapped or something," Dresden said, unaware of their short discussion.

Hikaru nodded. He looked at Sai who stood next to him, the familiar sensation he couldn't quite put into words returned to what it used to be. No, to more than what it used to be, now that he had become more clearly aware of it. He bowed, deep and proper, the kind of bow his mother probably wouldn't have believed he knew how to perform. He more felt than saw Sai bowing as well.

"Thank you," he said, unable to find words for all that had happened. "Really, just… thank you so much for your help."

"It's what I do, kid," Dresden said quietly. "I can't beat up all bad guys in the world, but I sure can keep them out of my town."

"She really picked the wrong town for her ritual, didn't she," Hikaru said with a wry smile. "Speaking of her… what happened to her? I didn't see her anymore after I got up from the pool, and Sai said he either didn't notice where she went."

Dresden shrugged. "Don't know, to be honest. Murphy's men said she disappeared at the moment when her spell broke, together with her pet and monsters." He frowned. "I haven't really heard of that kind of thing happening before… I'll have to do some research about it."

Hikaru released his breath, shuddering a bit. "I sure hope she won't be back", he muttered.

 _And the man?_ Sai whispered to him. Hikaru waited a moment before remembering Dresden couldn't hear the ghost anymore.

"What about the man, with the ghouls?"

"Not your problem," Dresden said shortly. "Just forget him."

 _Easier said than done_ , Hikaru thought to Sai, who placed a hand on his shoulder.

 _We'll manage_ , he said to the boy. _You'll be so busy with your pro schedule once we're back home you have no time to think about him._

Hikaru smiled a little. Dresden gave him a questioning look, hand on a door handle, and opened the door as the boy nodded.

 _Yeah. There's a new life waiting back home. For both of us._ He grasped tightly Sai's arm as they headed back downstairs.


End file.
